The problem of vortical movements in the solid earth and their role in geotectonics

Crustal structural features having a vortical or spiral shape were discovered in the first third of the 20th century. Since then, such features of various ranks, but similar appearance, have been revealed in different geotectonic settings; however, an adequate tectonic interpretation has not been offered. With allowance for the specific character of vortical movement, the evolution of the structural geometry of the North Atlantic basins and different segments of the global system of mid-ocean ridges is considered in this paper. It is shown that vortical movements do take place in the solid Earth during ocean formation and create scale-invariant rifting and spreading systems, where the spreading axis tends to undergo whirling. The size of these systems differs by more than two orders of magnitude. Many geotectonic phenomena that accompany the formation of oceans, including segmentation of the ocean floor and passive continental margins, folding of the sedimentary cover at these margins, and tectonic delamination of the oceanic lithosphere, may be explained by vortical movements of different ranks. In addition, the vortical structures on continents are variable in size and related to lithotectonic complexes of different ages. The vortical structural units of the Mediterranean Belt are considered as an example. Being driven by the same physical mechanism, the vortical movements depend on the dynamics of different geospheres. These movements are realized only in a nonlinear, nonequilibrium medium. Hence, only nonlinear and nonequilibrium thermodynamics will serve as a theoretical basis for a new concept, which is coming currently to take the place of plate tectonics.