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Continents and Regions
Questions regarding the seven continents and major regions of the earth.
4,027 Questions
What was happening when Pangaea broke into the continents?
When Pangaea broke apart, the tectonic plates underneath the Earth's surface shifted, causing the supercontinent to split up into the continents we have today. This movement of the plates created new oceans and changed the arrangement of landmasses on Earth.
What continent in the Eastern Hemisphere has mostly young nations?
The countries of the Eastern hemisphere are Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the islands of Oceania.
What was the name if the super continent?
The name of the supercontinent is Pangaea. It existed around 335 to 175 million years ago and eventually broke apart to form the continents we have today.
What is the closest continent to West Europe?
Africa is the closest continent to Western Europe, with the Strait of Gibraltar separating the two at their closest point of about 15 kilometers.
Why do our continents look the way they look today?
Overall, this is due to plate tectonics--the movement, creation, and destruction of lithospheric plates which float on the asthenosphere, with the associated volcanism, uplift, sinking, and mountain building.
Shaping Continents and Seas
The shape and location of the continents and islands are due to several related geologic processes, some of which occur extremely slowly:
- Continental drift (combines landmasses, creates mountains and other landforms)
- Volcanic activity (creates lava plains, islands, and volcanic peaks)
- Weathering and erosion* (reduces mountains and hills, creates rivers, lakes, deltas)
- Tides and currents (erode or create coastal landforms)
- Air temperature and circulation (rain and ice can create glaciers or icecaps, which trap water and reduce sea levels)
*The process of sedimentation can form new layers of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, which can be uplifted or eroded as well.
*The biological organisms of Earth can affect erosion and also the climate, which can athereby cause changes to the land and seas.
I think our planet's continents look the way they do today because of the oceans volcanoes spreading apart over time.
That's a start. The volcanoes are the effects more than cause.
The continents are vast rafts of (essentially) granite floating on the Earth's viscous Mantle, through a thinner, fractured, surrounding sea-floor crust.
These "tectonic plates" break and drift, driven by movements - probably convection-currents - in the Mantle, which is the bulk of the planet's volume.
The ocean crust thins and breaks, forming a line of extrusive, relatively docile eruptions and basaltic lava floods along the "mid-ocean ridge", and forcing the two parts of the plate apart, against the surrounding continents. E.g, Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Iceland as the Atlantic Ocean is still widening at about 20-25mm/year mean speed.
(Continents too can thin, rift and separate, as presently occurring in NE Africa.)
The ocean crust approaching a slower-moving continent is forced below it - subduction. It melts in the Upper Mantle to produce magma that slowly floats up through the continental crust to form either huge solid masses called "batholiths" or "plutons" below ground, or be expelled as lava in explosive eruptions. E.g. those of the "Pacific Ring of Fire"as the Pacific Ocean is closing.
Subduction is also responsible for the most destructive earthquakes, from the stick-slip action on the thrust-plane between continental and subducted sea-floor plates.
Eventually the continents collide, to buckle, fault and fold the continental crust and its sedimentary cover into mountains. E.g., Andes, Alps, Himalaya. The sedimentary rocks caught up in the process over the millions of years this all takes, are compressed and heated to form "metamorphic rocks".
So to summarise, the continents owe their shapes to Continental Drift - a continuous, continuing, breaking and colliding as the tectonic plates are shuffled around the planet.
because they were once connected, called "Pangaea"
Pangea, or giant land mast, caused our continents to look the way they do. But how? The continents slowly drifted a part.. Look at a map, you can see some continents could fit together.
What are the top 3 continents with the most population?
The top 3 continents with the most population are Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Which continent is south of the Pacific Atlantic and Indian Ocean?
South of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans is Antarctica. It is the only continent without any permanent inhabitants.
No, Sydney is not a continent. It is a city located in Oceania.
Which continents have countries with the lowest rates of natural increase?
Countries with the lowest rates of natural increase are typically found in Europe. Specifically, countries within Eastern Europe tend to have the lowest rates due to factors such as declining birth rates and aging populations.
What are the three continents surround Arabia?
The three continents that surround Arabia are Africa to the southwest, Asia to the northeast, and Europe to the northwest. Arabia is located in a strategic geographical position connecting these continents.
Which continents does 120 degrees west pass through?
The 120 degrees west longitude line passes through North America, specifically through parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, and some Central American countries.
Why is the land considered one of the continents great resources?
Land is considered one of the continent's great resources because it provides a physical foundation for human activities such as agriculture, mining, and construction. Land also supports ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources that are essential for the planet's health and sustainability. Additionally, land can hold value for cultural, historical, and recreational purposes.
What is the size of Africa in comparison to the other continents?
Africa is the second largest continent in terms of both land area and population, behind Asia. It has a total land area of about 30.2 million square kilometers.
Why are some continents are in more than one hemisphere?
Some continents, like Africa and North America, are located in multiple hemispheres because they straddle the equator or the Prime Meridian, which are the lines that divide the Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres, and the Eastern and Western hemispheres, respectively. This positioning causes these continents to be situated in more than one hemisphere.
Which continent has the highest proportion of land used for ranching or herding?
South America has the highest proportion of land used for ranching or herding, primarily due to the extensive cattle ranching practices in countries like Brazil and Argentina.
What is the size order of all your continents?
The continents ranked by size from largest to smallest are: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.
Does Africa has more country than any other continent?
No, Africa does not have more countries than any other continent. Africa has 54 recognized countries, while Asia has the most countries with 49 countries in Asia.
What is largest a continent a country or a state?
A continent is the largest, followed by a country, and then a state. Continents are massive landmasses that span across multiple countries, while countries are independent nations with defined borders. States are typically subdivisions within a country.
What continents did glaciers appear?
Glaciers have appeared on every continent except Australia. They have been particularly extensive in Antarctica, Greenland, North America, and Europe during past glaciations.
What are the four extreme points of African continent?
The four extreme points of the African continent are:
- Northernmost point: Ras ben Sakka in Tunisia
- Southernmost point: Cape Agulhas in South Africa
- Westernmost point: Pointe des Almadies in Senegal
- Easternmost point: Cape Dezhnev in Russia (though part of the African Plate)
What three continents have the most water per capita?
The three continents with the most water per capita are South America, North America, and Asia. These continents have a higher availability of freshwater resources compared to other regions.
What is the difference between a plate and a continent?
A continent is what floats on top of the plate. There are continental and oceanic plates. The continents float on the continental plate and the ocean sits on the oceanic plate. But there are also plates that carry both continents and oceans. The plates are what causes continental drift. So basically plates are what carry the continents and oceans.
