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Continents on the northern hemisphere

 
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Mar31-07, 03:19 PM   #1
 

Continents on the northern hemisphere


I am supprised and puzzled when my nephew, a 14 year old boy asked me : 'Why most of the continents are on the Northern hemisphere ?'.
I answered him it is just a coincidence. Could anybody explain if there are any real reasons for that?
Thanks
 
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Apr1-07, 01:58 AM   #2
 
There are some very cool animations here that I think will answer his question. And provoke some more!
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/tectonics.html
 
Apr1-07, 02:16 AM   #3
 
Thank you Bill, it's very nice animation. But frankly I can not find the answer myself.
 
Apr1-07, 02:55 AM   #4
 

Continents on the northern hemisphere


Quote by pixel01 View Post
Thank you Bill, it's very nice animation. But frankly I can not find the answer myself.
The animation shows the continents moving, constantly changing patterns over hundreds of millions of years. At one point they are all jammed together, at another point most of them are in the southern hemisphere. What it shows is that the pattern of the continents isn't permanent. They're still moving around, extremely slowly.
So it seems you were right, that it's just chance. If he'd been around a couple hundred million years ago (or a couple hundred million years in the future) it would all look different.
 
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