The continents are large areas of land,which dominate the background of nearby archipelagoes and islands. Of course, this is a general definition. If we consider the continents from the point of view of science, it is 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. Children often have questions, for example, why do continents move? Let's see if this is really so.
To understand why continents are moving, one shouldstudy the structure of the planet. So what is hard land? First of all, it is part of the crust. Solid land is only a thin layer of various rocks that hide red-hot magma under it. The thickness of the crust can vary greatly. For example, under the ocean, the depth of hard rocks can range from 13 to 350 kilometers, and the depth of liquid magma - almost 5,000 kilometers. The difference, of course, is 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. The substance gets very hot. At the same time, there is a movement of magma from the center to the earth's crust, where its cooling processes take place. In the liquid layer, convections are constantly observed, which are fixed by satellite magnetometers. This phenomenon allows us to answer the question of why the continents are moving. A brief description of such processes allows you to fully imagine the picture of what is happening.
So why are continents moving?The answer to this question is quite simple. 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 raising of magma proceeds under great pressure and very slowly. However, with the occurrence of such phenomena, a large amount of kinetic energy is released. All this has a definite effect on solid land.
Magma performs cyclic movements.It pushes the surface fragments exactly in the direction where the impulse is present. That is why the continents are moving. In other words, the surface displacement of solid land is associated with the processes that occur inside our planet right up to its very core.
The reason why the continents are moving wasinstalled for a long time. Experts note that the displacement of solid sushi is insignificant. In a year, the continents can shift by only one centimeter. However, the energy that is released during the course of such processes is much more than the capacity of generating a network of power plants.
As established, on the movement of continentsglaciers are also influenced. In some places, the ice shell of Antarctica is able to push the surface of the crust up to two and a half kilometers inland. As a result, the displacement of the continents slows down considerably.
The movement of the earth's crust did not begin immediately, becauseAt first, our planet was a liquid melted ball. Gradually, the Earth cooled down, its surface was covered with a hard crust, and only after 500 million years did continents form. The resulting land cracked under the pressure of hot magma. Thus, the future elements of the surface were formed. Those that were located higher, began to form the land. Part of the plates due to a sufficiently large weight plunged deep into the planet and became oceanic. Under the influence of magma, the crust moved. These processes lasted about 3 and a half billion years. The plates collided, lifted and punched. As a result, the oceans, seas and continents that currently exist are formed.
