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Subject: plate tectonics update
From: Dave Long <dl@silcom.com>
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When we were discussing Kuhn, I wrote:

<http://www.xent.com/pipermail/fork/2001-July/001854.html>
> My understanding of the history of
> plate tectonics is that the magnetic
> reversal patterns encoded in seafloor
> basalts were crucial supporting data
> which suddenly became available only
> after Navy declassification, so the
> adoption curve may be skewed.

Many of the essays in Oreskes' _Plate
Tectonics_ seem to support this idea:

Sandwell, "Plate Tectonics: A Martian View"
> In this essay, I'll describe a few of the important confirmations of
> plate tectonic theory provided by satellites and ships.  These tools
> were largely developed to support the Cold War effort, and many are
> labeled geodetic since they are used to make precise measurements
> of the size and shape of the earth and the spatial variations in the
> pull of gravity.  The tools of satellite geodesy are needed for all
> aspects of global warfare; precise satellite tracking and gravity
> field development are needed for precision satellite surveillance
> as well as for targeting ballistic missiles; the global positioning
> system is used in all aspects of modern warfare; radar altimetery is
> used or aiming submarine-launched ballistic missiles as well as for
> inertial navigation when submerged.
> 
> The global seismic networks were developed, primarily, to monitor
> underground nuclear tests.  Marine magnetometers were developed,
> primarily, for detection of submarines.  Multibeam sea floor mapping
> systems were developed, primarily, for surveying critical and
> operational areas of the northern oceans.

... and the Navy was in no hurry
to declassify any of these data,
as any uneven coverage could have
revealed the parts of the oceans
they found most interesting.

-Dave

(What do our seismic networks say
about the middle east?  I hazily
recall a story about LA reporters
asking their local geophysicists
about an early morning quake, to
be told that, as far as could be
figured, the "epicenter" was at a
negative depth, travelling near
mach speed, and presumably headed
towards Edwards)


