Continental Drift Theory of Taylor |Theories | Geography

In this article we will discuss about the continental drift theory of Taylor.

F.B, Taylor postulated his concept of ‘horizon­tal displacement of the continents’ in the year of 1908 but it could be published only in the year 1910. The main purpose of his hypothesis was to explain the problems of the origin of the folded mountains of tertiary period. Infact, F.B. Taylor wanted to solve the peculiar problem of the distributional pattern of terti­ary folded mountains.

The north-south arrangement of the Rockies and the Andes of the western margins of the North and South Americas and west – east extent of the Apline mountains (Alps, Caucasus, Himalayas etc.) posed a serious problem before Taylor which needed careful explanation. He could not find any help from the ‘contraction theory’ to explain the peculiar distribution of tertiary folded mountains and hence he propounded his ‘drift or displacement theory’.

The concept of Taylor, thus, is considered to be first at­tempt in the field of continental drift though Antonio Snider presented his views about ‘drift’ in the year 1858 in France. Main purpose behind the postulation of ‘drift hypothesis’ of Snider was to explain the simi­larity of the fossils of the coal seams of carboniferous period in North America and Europe.

Taylor started from cretaceous period. Accord­ing to him there were two land masses during creta­ceous period. Lauratia and Gondwanaland were lo­cated near the north and south poles respectively. He further assumed that the continents were made of sial which was practically absent in the oceanic crust. According to Taylor continents moved towards the equator. The main driving force of the continental drift was tidal force.

According to Taylor, continents were displaced in two ways e.g.:

(i) Equator ward movement, and

(ii) Westward movement but the driving force responsible for both types of movement was tidal force of the moon.

Lauratia started moving away from the North Pole because of enormous tidal force of the moon towards the equator in a radial manner. This movement of land mass resulted into tensional force near the North Pole which caused stretching, splitting and rupture in the landmass. Consequently, Baffin Bay, Labrador Sea and Davis Strait were formed.

Similarly, the dis­placement of the Gondwanaland from the South Pole towards the equator caused splitting and disruption and hence the Gondwanaland was split into several parts. Consequently, Great Australian Bight and Ross Sea were formed around Antarctic Continent.

Arctic sea was formed between Greenland and Siberia due to equator ward movement of Lauratia. Atlantic and In­dian oceans were supposed to have been formed because of filling of gaps between the drifting continents with water. Taylor assumed that the landmasses began to move in lobe form while drifting through the zones of lesser resistance. Thus, mountains and island arcs were formed in the frontal part of the moving lobes.

The Himalayas, Caucasus and Alps are considered to have been formed during equator ward movement of the Lauratia and Gondwanaland from the north and south poles respectively while the Rockies and Andes were formed due to westward movement of the land- masses.

Evaluation:

Since F.B. Taylor’s main aim was to explain the origin of the tertiary folded mountains and hence he made the continents to move at a very large scale. In fact, some sort of horizontal movement of the land masses was essential for the origin of mountains but the displacement of land masses up to 32-64 km would have been sufficient enough for the purpose. Contrary to this Taylor has described the displacement of the landmasses for thousands of kilometres. Secondly, the mode of drift as suggested by Taylor has also been erroneous.

If the tidal force of the moon was so enor­mous during cretaceous period that it could displace the landmasses for thousands of kilometers apart then it might have also put a break on the rotatory motion of the earth and thus the rotation of the earth might have stopped within a year.

According to A. Holmes neither tidal force nor any external force can drift the conti­nents apart and can help in the formation of mountains. The responsible force must come from within the earth.

Though the concept of F.B. Taylor is not accept­able but his hypothesis is considered to be significant on the ground that Taylor raised his voice very force­fully through deductive postulation against the preva­lent concept of the permanency of the continents and ocean basins and forcefully objected to the ‘contraction theory’ and showed a new direction to solve the prob­lem of the origin of the continents and ocean basins. A. Holmes has rightly remarked, ‘but Taylor must be given credit for making an independent and slightly an earlier start in this precarious field.’