Plate Tectonics (Wegener to Vine-Matthews, 1912–1966)

Plate tectonics unified geology by explaining earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain formation through moving crustal plates. Alfred Wegener proposed continental drift in 1912, but lacked a mechanism; the Vine-Matthews hypothesis of 1963 confirmed seafloor spreading, driving plate motion. This theory is to geology what evolution is to biology—a single unifying framework. A concrete data point: Earth's plates move at rates of 2–15 cm per year, measured by GPS. Plate tectonics is cheaper than the typical rival explanation for mineral distribution, which previously required independent theories for each deposit.