Page:The origin of continents and oceans - Wegener, tr. Skerl - 1924.djvu/163

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THE VISCOSITY OF THE EARTH
137

sima and solid sial could exist side by side at the same temperature. The fact that the molten sial is more viscous than molten sima also favours it.

Meanwhile, as I myself think, one cannot yet attach any decisive importance to the whole question of temperature, especially since Schweydar’s results show that the sima possesses a viscosity, even under the continents, which is 10,000 times greater than that of sealing-wax at room-temperature. Probably all processes would play a very similar rôle, even if the melting temperature of the silicates were never reached.