Are plate movements linear?

Question

I'm reading Jerry Coyne's "Why evolution is true," and in the first chapter he claims that plate tectonic theory, together with the fact that the continents were once connected, contradicts young-earth creationism because plates move at a rate of just 2-4 inches a year, so if the earth were only 10K years old, you could see the NYC skyline from the coast of Spain.

I'm not a young earth creationist, but I wonder about the validity of this argument.  Is there any reason to believe that plate movements have been a steady 2-4 in/yr for the last 10,000 years?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

as an ex geology student it is easy to tell that on average the plates movement is like this due to just look at the thickness and age of rock strata both surface and submerged. there are also places in the rockies where very ancient oceanic plate is preserved. so therefore by comparing and contrasting this to modern day plate tectonics we can assume that the plates movement is on averafe 2- 4 inches per year.

I hope this is easy and helpful enough as i didnt want to go into the advanced studies of uniformitarianism.

Eman the Geoman · Answer

I am unaware of "proof" of a "constant" rate. Some plates do move faster than others. I think we assume some variation owing to overcoming momentum at break-up and the slowdown that happens as plate margins start to buckle.

However were I able to do the exact momentum calculations-- I assure you they would show there is no mechanism known which could move plates at 10's or 1000's of miles per year and even if so, no way to explain a sudden slow down  we see today.

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Are plate movements linear?

2 Answers