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Paleobiogeography, plate evolution, and minor amounts of subduction require a rapidly expanding earth during post-Triassic time, not plate tectonics. An asteroid impact at the P/Tr boundary in the Congo Basin ruptured the lithosphere and, together with another impact in the Carnian of Arizona, caused Earth's volume to subsequently expand. The increase in volume was likely due to inner core and lower mantle transformation growth at the expense of the fluid outer core. A modified Pacific reconstruction is proposed that closes up the Pacific Basin in the Triassic and allows continents to cover a 55% radius Earth. Some serious weaknesses in the plate tectonics theory are noted, and tectonics by high-energy impacts is discussed.

Since the theory of plate tectonics was firs proposed thirty years ago, some problems have arisen in this practical application. These call in t question its fundeamental assumptions of horizontal plate motion, hotspot fixity, true polar wander, Panthalassa, and the Earth's constant size while leaving the seafloor spreading and subduction intact. A rapidly expanding earth solves these problems and provides an alternative viewpoint worth reconsidering.