Beitrag

What has remained of Hans Stille's tectonics?

Şengör, A. M. Celâl

Bild der ersten Seite der Arbeit:

Global Tectonics and Metallogeny Volume 10 Number 2-4 (2018), p. 77 - 107

161 Literaturangaben

veröffentlicht: May 1, 2018
Manuskript akzeptiert: Oct 22, 2017
Manuskript-Revision erhalten: Sep 6, 2016
Manuskript-Revision angefordert: Jul 15, 2017
Manuskript erhalten: Jun 25, 2017

DOI: 10.1127/gtm/2018/0012

BibTeX Datei

ArtNo. ESP136001002004, Preis: 19.00 €

Vorschau PDF herunterladen Als PDF kaufen

Abstract

With 15 figures Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new
 Albert EINSTEIN
 Let it be understood at the outset that to exceed the variety of
 nature is an extended enterprise, a remote and ideal goal, toward
 which we strive. Let no excessive flight of theory carry us far from
 the earth and overcome us in mid-air.
 William Morris DAVIS
 Abstract: Few geologists today remember Hans Wilhelm Stille (1876–1966). He was a very famous German geologist, whose ideas had dominated tectonics during the middle quarters of the twentieth century. He was a fixist contractionist, a follower of Élie de Beaumont and not of Eduard Suess in theoretical matters. Not much has remained of his theoretical edifice after the rise of plate tectonics that revived a Suessian way of doing geology. However, there are a number of observations that Stille had made on global tectonics that are still usable. Here I discuss his distinction of germanotype tectonics from alpinotype tectonics. The former is characterized by block uplifts and subsidences with non-penetrative deformation and mainly alkalic magmatism occurring on young cratons and on old orogenic belts; the latter is characterized by penetrative deformation involving numerous nappes of the first genre, folds and thrusts with calc-alkalic magmatism characterizing plate boundaries. The various kinds of germanotype structures give us precious clues concerning the structural behavior of different types of cratons. The germanotype-alpinotype distinction has also been successfully employed in deciphering the tectonic behavior of Mercury. So, Stille has still much to teach us: his main message is that doing good field geology is the sine qua non of understanding the present structure and the evolution of the architecture and the behavior of the earth.


Schlagworte

Hans Stille • germanotype and alpinotype tectonics • craton • plate boundary zone • Eurasia • Mercury