Contractional theory, continental drift and plate tectonics: Plate tectonics : a change in the paradigm of the geosciences ; Early history of geodynamic thought ; From continental drift to plate tectonics ; The plate tectonic concept ; The pattern of magnetic polarity stripes ; Plate motions and earthquake zones ; Two kinds of continental margins ; Magmatism and plate tectonics ; What drives the plates and what slows them down? ; Collision and mountain building -- Plate movements and their geometric relationships: Helpful transform faults ; Relative movements and triple junctions ; Relative plate velocities : past and present ; Direct measurement of plate movements ; Apparent contradictions in the plate motion pattern -- Continental graben structures: Symmetric and asymmetric crustal extension ; Sediments and ore deposits in graben structures ; Volcanism in graben structures ; The Upper Rhine Graben in Germany ; The history of the Upper Rhine Graben ; Magmatism and heat flow in the Upper Rhine Graben ; The large East African rift system ; The Red Sea : from rift to drift ; The extensional area of the Basin and Range Province ; The development of metamorphic domes ; A brief history of the Basin and Range Province --