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The expanding earth model doesn't particularly work as far as physics is concerned. The lack of seafloor over ca. 200 million (except where it's squashed up with other rocks, showing evidence of past convergence and not just divergence) is perfectly in keeping with regular plate tectonics, which can also be observed to be taking place in the present. There is a continuous influx of extraterrestrial particles, but the net mass has not made significant changes to the earth's size or gravitational pull since ca. 4 billion years ago. Biogeographic patterns match quite well with conventional plate tectonic ideas. There are a few problems here and there that are popular with advocates of expanding earth claims, but there are problems that have no clear explanation (except to assert that some combination of dispersal and regional extirpation could achieve any pattern). E.g., why are western North American crayfish most closely related to European crayfish whereas eastern North American crayfish are closest to Asian crayfish? Given that many biogeographic weirdos exist, along with the possibility of convergent evolution, a few odd biogeographic patterns are insufficient to overthrow plate tectonics. -- Dr. David Campbell 425 Scientific Collections Building Department of Biological Sciences Biodiversity and Systematics University of Alabama, Box 870345 Tuscaloosa AL 35487-0345 USA
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