Question—The Timeless Mysteries of the Earth and Innovations in Geology

Author: Yang Huai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: Is the volume and surface area of the Earth constant? Are continents fixed or active? Can the Earth's internal layer structure allow mantle convection? Is the Earth's evolution uniform? Where should India drift? Why does eastern China fan itself towards the Pacific? Can the Bohai Bay disappear through piecing together? Why didn't the Siberian Ocean form 200 million years ago? How did the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau uplift? Who stole half of the ocean water 3 million years ago? Did dinosaurs become extinct due to food poisoning, food chain disruption, oxygen depletion, or asteroid impacts? Why was Mars the past star and Venus the future star? Do celestial bodies have life and death? This book introduces a new theory of celestial body origin different from the Kant-Laplace nebular hypothesis, as well as the Earth's asymmetric expansion theory established based on this theory, challenging the traditional plate tectonics theory proposed by Alfred Wegener. The expansion theory convincingly explains geological phenomena that the plate tectonics theory cannot. As a popular science book introducing the expansion theory, Earth's Questions presents the intricacies of the new theory in a highly accessible and vivid manner, making it easy for readers with high school education or higher to understand. The scientific and miraculous nature of the new theory is also demonstrated by its predictions of China's mineral resource reserves, such as the massive oil deposits in Xinjiang and the copper belt in the Tianshan Mountains, which were later confirmed by geological exploration. These topics are detailed in this engaging popular science book. The book primarily introduces the new theory while also analyzing and critiquing the strengths and weaknesses of traditional theories. Therefore, readers who enjoy thinking about scientific questions will not only gain insight into this unprecedented new theory but also gain a comprehensive understanding of the history of modern geology. In this sense, the book can also be considered a mini-encyclopedia of geology.