Right. Just as unexpected observations in physics led to finding a whole
new realm (QM), and in geophysics a whole new way of looking at the history
of the lithosphere (plate tectonics), explaining the observed parallel
coastlines with the addition of the mid-oceanic ridges, so new experimental
results may come to light that explain the batholith problem in an
unexpected way.
>
>
>Right, anything may change but wishful thinking is the last one to achieve
>such a change. Especially if your "unknown factors" are in violation of
>known laws.
Wegner suggested continental movement without detailing a mechanism (and
really today the proposed mechanisms are still debated and not very
detailed). He was ridiculed and ignored. Same with Bretz, and many
others. It's OK. Happens frequently in science.
By the way, how did the oceans keep from filling in as they opened? If you
calculate the speed at which the oceans, say the Atlantic, opened in the
long-ages model, it is so slow that the crack would have filled with
sediment each year.
Karen