Continental Drift

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  An Introduction to Continental Drift: Evidence from Below

Continents are constantly in motion, sliding over the Earth's surface as rigid plates that sometimes collide or pull apart. The theory of plate tectonics explains how and why this happens. Ever-changing topological features like mountain ranges, rift valleys, and ocean trenches provide compelling evidence for this theory.   
The Earth's outer layer, the lithosphere, consists of interlocking rigid plates that ride on top of the softer asthenosphere below. These plates carry continents and ocean floors as they move, driven by convection currents in the mantle. Where they collide, plates buckle and fold to form mountains. Where they pull apart, rift valleys and mid-ocean ridges form.    
The idea of continental drift, that continents have moved over time and originally joined together, was met with skepticism for decades. However, clues hidden below the seafloor and within the continents themselves provide convincing support. Seafloor mapping revealed evidence of spreading ridges and trenches marking present plate boundaries. Rock formations and fossil records show continents were once joined in a supercontinent dubbed Pangaea.
As plates move, the abrupt edges of continents grind past each other or plunge under one another. This faulting deforms rock layers and fractured the earth's crust. Fault-bounded basins trap unusual  deposits, while altered seawater circulates through fracture-fed aquifers. Magma rises and erupts through rifts punctuating seafloor spreading zones.   
It is now clear that plates collide, fracture, and reform repeatedly over geologic timescales. The evidence hidden beneath seas and soil demonstrates that continents are not stationary, but in constant, imperceptible motion - shaping the Earth from within.


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