- Esotericism: It refers to the doctrines, or practices, of esoteric knowledge or, otherwise, the quality or state of being described as esoteric, or obscure. Esoteric knowledge is that which is specialized or advanced in nature, available only to a narrow circle of "enlightened", "initiated", or highly educated people.
- Exogenesis: It is a limited hypothesis that proposes life on Earth was transferred from elsewhere in the Universe but makes no prediction about how widespread it is.
- Panspermia: It is the hypothesis that "seeds" of life exist already all over the Universe, that life on Earth may have originated through these "seeds", and that they may deliver or have delivered life to other habitable bodies.
- Plate Tectonics theory
In the 16th century cartographers noticed that the west coast of Africa
was a close fit with the east coast of Latin America. In 1912 the German
scientists Alfred Wegener suggested that continental drift explained how
this happened. He thought that Africa and South America once formed a supercontinent
that was cut into two parts that drifted apart. It took time for this theory
to be accepted but later evidences made it more acceptable.
According to Wegener the earth surface is made of seven major, and several
minor, tectonic plates of light density granite floating on high-density
basalt. These plates are continuously moving with a speed from 2 to 16 cm
a year. The meeting points of these plates are called "faults".
When two plates diverge land valleys and ocean ridges can be formed. When
they converge the less dense plates -often oceanic- tend to slide under
the denser one -continental ones- and these movements create ocean trenches
and mountain ranges. When two such plates slide past each other the friction
can cause earthquakes.