Continents are large areas of land that dominate the background of nearby archipelagos and islands. Of course, this is a general definition. If we consider the continents from the point of view of science, then these are not only land areas, but also the sea shelf, which is one with the mainland, but has long been hidden under water as a result of flooding. Often, children have questions, for example, why do continents move? Let's see if this is really the case.
Liquid magma and solid land
To understand why the continents move, you should study the structure of the planet. So what is solid land? First of all, it is part of the earth's crust. Solid land is only a thin layer of various rocks that hide hot magma underneath. The thickness of the earth's crust can vary greatly. For example, under the ocean, the depth of solid rocks can be from 13 to 350 kilometers, and the depth of liquid magma can be almost 5,000 kilometers. The difference is, of course, significant.
Why is magma liquid? The main reason is the high temperature, which is released as a result of thermonuclear reactions occurring in the core of the planet. Substancegets very hot. In this case, the movement of magma from the center to the earth's crust is observed, where the processes of its cooling take place. Convections are constantly observed in the liquid layer, which are recorded by satellite magnetometers. This phenomenon allows us to answer the question of why the continents move. A brief description of such processes allows you to fully imagine the picture of what is happening.
The main reason for the movement of the continents
So why are the continents moving? The answer to this question is quite simple. The convections occurring inside the magma are chaotic. Very often there is less activity in certain areas than in others. It is worth noting that the rise of magma proceeds under high pressure and very slowly. However, when such phenomena occur, a large amount of kinetic energy is released. All this has a certain effect on solid land.
Magma performs cyclic movements. It pushes the surface fragments exactly in the direction where the momentum is present. That's why continents move. In other words, the surface displacement of solid land is associated with the processes that take place inside our planet right up to its very core.
How continents move
The reason why continents move has been established long ago. Experts note that the displacement of solid land is insignificant. In a year, the continents can move only one centimeter. However, the energy that is released during the course of such processes is much more than it is capable of generating.power plant network.
As it was established, glaciers also influence the movement of continents. In some places, the ice shell of Antarctica is able to push the surface of the earth's crust up to two and a half kilometers deep. As a result, the displacement of the continents is significantly slowing down.
Have continents always moved
The movement of the earth's crust did not begin immediately, because at first our planet was a liquid molten ball. Gradually, the Earth cooled down, its surface was covered with a hard crust, and only after 500 million years the continents were formed. The resulting land cracked under the pressure of hot magma. This is how the future surface elements were formed. Those that were located higher began to form land. Part of the plates, due to the rather large weight, plunged deep into the planet and became oceanic. Under the influence of magma, the earth's crust moved. These processes lasted about 3 and a half billion years. Plates collided, rose and pressed through. The result was the oceans, seas and continents that exist today.
