Ziemskie tektodromy

Abstract

GEOTECTODROMESSummaryThe developing geological explorations of continents and oceans yield ample materials that allow us to synthetize all problems related to the structure of the Earth's crust. The present author analyses, the main features of the earth structure. He proposes to give a name “tectodrome” to a zone, which separates areas different in their geological structure, on a terrestrial scale. As an example of such a large tectonic zone may serve here a fracture parallel to the arc formed by the Aleutian and Komandor Islands, called by him the Lenoaleutian tectodrome. This tectodrome makes a closed curve resembling a circle. Within the Pacific Ocean area, the author distinguishes the Japanese, Hawaiian, Polynesian and New Zealand tectodromes. These zones show some differences in the structure of the Pacific Ocean bottom between the tectodromes. It is striking here that the tectodromes continue over the adjacent seas and continents. The attached maps, presented by the author in various cartographical projections, illustrate a continuity of e.g. the tectonic zone of the Appalachian Mts. in America and the tectonic zone in Europe, throughout the Atlantic Ocean area. This Appalachian-Polish zone, connected with the Polynesian zone, divides the terrestrial globe into two almost equal parts, along a plane approximate to a large circle. The system of tectodromes allows us to make a tectonic regionalization of the earth crust, and the results obtained may be valuable in prospections for various mineral deposits, e.g. bitumen or metal ore deposits, the distribution and preservation of which depend upon the position of the tectonic elements.