Symmetry of the Earth's mega-relief: implication for a model of global morphogenesis

Abstract

At the highest levels of the mega-relief organisation its symmetry amounts to the following: repeated antisymmetry of the genetic triad of relief, antisymmetry of hypsometric triad, antisymmetry of continental and oceanic hemispheres, conical and bi-lateral symmetry of the Laurasian continental projection, translation of similarity of the Gondwana:s continents and subcontinents, bi-lateral symmetry Of oceans. Main elements of the dissymmetry of the Earth mega-reliefs structure are the following: transitional zone between continent and ocean and the area of oceanic mountains in western Pacific, North Atlantic basin, including Greenland, epigeosynclinal mountain belt of the Andes together with the region of the Sea of Scotia and South Antillan island arc.

Structure of the planetary morphogenesis is characterized by two co-existing trends: continents growth and oceans spreading with the non-uniform expansion of the Earth in the background. This situation is typical of the last mega-stage of the tectonic morphogenesis which embraces the Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic time.

An efficient geomorphological meta-theory may be based on two assumptions: triunity of the Earth's surface topography and types of morphogenesis, principle of freedom of geomorphologic explanations.