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By BRIDGE8 under license from Mangorolla CIC 2024
They just do.
The earth is not solid, is is a big lump of hot molten stuff, the crust is just that, the bit on the outside that has cooled down enough to turn solid. Its pretty cool that we can live on it, isn’t it.
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Simon is right, under the crust is molten larva. The continental (or tectonic) plates float in this.
you can see a list of all the plate here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tectonic_plate
There are about seven major plates and a heap of smaller plates that move. The movement of plates is the reason for earthquakes and volcanoes.
I think there are a few reasons for the movement, the rotation of the earth, the movement of the underlying molten, gravitational pull from the moon and earth… here are a few theory’s… All we can say is one day Australia will crash into Asia, we travel north about 2cm a year I think.
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Yes, Simon and Shona are right. Australia is moving northward at about the same speed that our fingernails grow (so not very fast). Here is an animation by the BBC that helps explain the ‘convection currents’ in the molten core that cause the tectonic plates to move: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryrXAGY1dmE
Scientists study the movement of our plates and use computer models to predict what will happen in the future. They believe that in 200 million years the Earth will look very different. A supercontinent called ‘Amasia’ will form right over the North Pole. North and South America will crunch together, with the Caribbean Sea and Arctic Ocean disappearing, while Asia will join the Americas. We won’t be around to see that happen though!
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