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.