Geodynamics, the study of global movements and of the forces driving them, is a rekatively fresh offshoot from the vigorously branching tree of the earth sciences. Before the advent of Alfred Wegener on this scene in the early nineteen-hundreds, the idea of permanency in the distribution of continents and oceans was almost sacrosanct.
Das Antlitz der Erde, or “The Face of the Earth”, was the title of the first great magnum opus on the gross surface features of the earth by Eduard Suess late last century. A recent British television documentary with the same purpose bore the same title.
Selat Sunda terletak di zona transisi antara dua tipe subduksi yang berbeda : subduksi normal di sebelah selatan P. Jawa dan subduksi miring di sebelah barat P. Sumatera. Implikasi dari posisi tersebut, derah di sekitar Selat Sunda dipertimbangkan sebagai salah satu kunci untuk memahami proses-proses geodinamika yang sedang berlangsung di bagian barat kepulauan Indonesia.