A new scientific discovery has put everything that was known about the Earth sciences in jeopardy. Researchers have found that the number of continents may not be clear; tectonic plates have not stopped moving. In fact, seismic studies indicate that the movement of the nucleus has not ceased, and that the American and Eurasian continents are still united by North Greenland. This implies a paradigm shift in the Geology that until now explained the movement of Earth’s plates.
Tectonic plates
The tectonic plates are the large blocks of rock that make up the earth’s surface. They are the outer layer of the earth, the lithosphere. It is characterized by being in constant and imperceptible movement. They are responsible for geological phenomena such as volcanic eruptions, formation of mountains and earthquakes, since when moving, they collide with each other.
What is the Pangea?
While today it seems that the number of continents on planet Earth is not clear, 335 million years ago this problem existed. In the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras, most of the lands that emerged on Earth were grouped together to form a single supercontinent called Pangea. Due to the movements of the tectonic plates, it has been shifting over the years, giving rise to the division of continents that we know today.
Guess the continent
The seabed is the one that has the answers to all questions related to tectonic plates. That is why, a professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Derby, Jordan Phethean, author of several books on plate tectonic theory, is investigating the tectonic history of the North Atlantic. Are we clear about the number of continents on Earth?
According to the English-speaking countries and the United States, planet Earth has 7 continents: North America (including Central America and the Caribbean),South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica.
However, others consider them to be Asia, Antarctica, Europe, Africa, Oceania and the Americas (without making divisions). There are also disagreements with Oceania, which is not considered as a continent by the Americans, but by the Europeans.
“Euro-Asiamerican” continent
Dr. Pethean, together with two geologists Luke Longley and Christian Schiffer from the Universities of Uppsala in Sweden and the University of Derby in England, has launched a research on tectonic development in the northern region of Greenland, of which little data is recorded. Between Greenland and Canada lies the boundary between the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay.
It was just there where they found land under the Davis Strait. Between 19-24 kilometers thick, a block of continental crust was identified that connects the sea and the bay.
The researchers’ findings are reflected in the Gondwana report, which explains that although the separation of the plates of America and Eurasia separated 58 million years ago, it is seen that they still do so and have not done so at all. According to Doctor Phetean, “In fact, they are still stretching and are in the process of separating.” In this way, America and Eurasia were understood as a single mass of land.
So, how many continents are there?
“[… ] The aim of our work is to understand their formation sufficiently well to predict this future evolution”. Doctor Phethean explains that rifting and plate movements are constant, resulting in the formation of microcontinents. The question now is, how many continents are there?
For those who divide the American continent into two (North and South America) would remain: South America, Euro-Asian continent, Africa, Antarctica and Australia. For those for whom the American continent is a whole: Euro-Asian continent, Africa, Oceanic, Antarctic. Whether 4,5 or 6 continents, the importance of this study reveals that not everything we take for granted today in the world of Geology is fully founded. Will there be more unions that we do not know?
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