• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Universe / Do Continents Move?

Do Continents Move?

July 19, 2020 by Karen Hill

We’ve all looked at the globe and studied the shape and position of the land masses called continents. But the size and the shape of the continents have not been the same during all of the earth’s history.

Parts of the continents were once covered with water, while parts of the sea were once dry land. And scientists are now sure that the continents themselves are moving.

The idea that continents move is called the theory of continental drift. According to this idea, the earth’s mantle, the layer between the outer crust and the core, moves either continually or in fits and starts. The movement of the earth’s mantle probably began more than 200 million years ago, and continues at a rate of about an inch a year.

Scientists who believe in the continental drift theory think that the Western and Eastern Hemispheres were once joined, and have gradually moved away from each other over the last 200 million years.

Therefore, the Atlantic Ocean has been getting bigger as the Western Hemisphere moves away from the Eastern. If this movement continues, the Western Hemisphere would move across the Pacific Ocean toward Asia, and the Pacific Ocean would someday disappear!

Related Facts

  • Who Discovered Continental Drift theory and Why do the Earth’s continents drift and move over time?
  • Who Discovered that the Seafloor is Spreading which confirms continental drift theory by Alfred Wegener?
  • Which Explorers First Explored the Continents of the World?
  • How Was Alfred Wegener’s Continental Drift Theory and the Supercontinent Pangaea Finally Proven?
  • What Is the Continental Drift Theory and How Did Pangaea Break Up Into Pieces and Form the Continents?
  • What was the European Age of Exploration?

Filed Under: Universe

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « How Long Has There Been Life on Earth?
Next Post: When Did the World Lose Ten Days? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy