Kevin Burke of the University of Houston is not convinced. Most of the rocks formed billions of years ago have since been destroyed, so a lack of evidence of volcanic activity doesn't prove anything, he argues. "They seem to think that what you see at the surface of the Earth is what happened," he said. "I think it's a record of what's left -- what didn't get destroyed." Plate tectonics is a fundamental process on the planet, he added, not something that can switch on and off like a light. "Heat gets out of the Earth by running plate tectonics, and the occasional mantle plume. I don't think you can turn it off," he said. Related Links: Planet Earth: Mountain's Majesty |
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