Continent

A continent (Latin continere, "to hold together") is a large continuous land mass. There are several conceptions of what a continent is, geographic, geologic, and tectonic.

Tectonic plates

During the 20th century, it became accepted by geologists that continents move location on the face of the planet over the geologic timescale, a process known as continental drift, explained by the theory of plate tectonics. It is the tectonic plates that have drifted, broken apart and joined together over time to give rise to the continents we now recognize. Consequently, in the geological past and prior to the present continents, other continents existed - see :Category:Historical continents.

Related Topics:
20th century - Geologic timescale - Continental drift - Plate tectonics - :Category:Historical continents

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sometimes the continents are considered to be divided by tectonic plates, so that Arabia on the Arabian plate, India on the Indian plate, Central America on the Caribbean plate, and California on the Pacific plate might be considered continents.

Related Topics:
Arabian plate - Indian plate - Caribbean plate - Pacific plate

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~