In the 1960s, geology was transformed by the paradigm of plate tectonics. The 1965 paper of Bullard, Everett and Smith was a linking transition between the theories of continental drift and plate tectonics. They showed, conclusively, that the continents around the Atlantic were once contiguous and that the Atlantic Ocean had grown at rates of a few centimetres per year since the Early Jurassic,...

Introduction: A key observation and open question in the Earth and Planetary Sciences is that the Earth is seemingly unique in that it exhibits plate tectonics and a buffered climate allowing liquid water to exist at the surface over its geologic lifetime. While we know plate tectonics is currently in operation on the Earth, the timing of its onset, the length of its activity, and its prevalenc...