certainly to be expected that in the future both the frequency-maxima will be shown to be somewhat more sharply separated than the present observations indicate.
In the whole of geophysics there is scarcely another law of such clearness and certainty as this one, which states that there are two favoured levels on the earth, which occur alternately side by side and which are represented by the continents and the floors of the oceans. Therefore it is very remarkable that for this law, which has been well known for at least fifty years, no explanation has ever been sought. Only Sörgel,[1] in his polemic against the displacement theory, attempts to trace it to elevation and subsidence. Even this attempt rests on an erroneous consideration. _-_figure_05.jpg)
Fig. 5.—The two frequency maxima of elevation.If, as he believes, only a single equilibrium level existed, disturbances thereof, such as elevations and subsidences, could then only give rise to two differing frequency-maxima, if physical causes existed for a preference of just these elevations. Since this is not the case, the frequency should simply be controlled by the Law of Errors of Gauss, the approximate course of which is drawn as an interrupted line in Fig. 5, because the deviations from the level of equilibrium must naturally be fewer as they become greater. Thus there should exist
- ↑ W. Sörgel, “Die Atlantische ‘Spalte,’ Kritische Bemerkungen zu A. Wegener’s Theorie von der Kontinentalverschiebung.” Monatsber. d. deutsch. Geol. Ges., 68, pp. 200–239, 1916.
