Marine geophysics

Abstract

The period 1967–1970 was one of the most productive in the relatively short history of marine geophysics. A considerable body of data was collected that pertains to the properties, structure, and history of the oceanic areas. The concept variously termed sea floor spreading, new global tectonics, or plate tectonics was greatly strengthened through the addition of new data of many types from all the major ocean basins and the marginal seas. Many of these data would not strictly have been considered as derived from marine geophysical investigations in the past, but these data are geophysical and pertain to the marine areas, so they are included in this summary.