Get Knowledge - Information

The Continents In The World: Earth’s seven divisions

236

Continent

The Continents In The World: For upon |A continent is one of Earth’s seven main divisions of land. The continents are, from largest to smallest: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.

Zealandia Microcontinent

A map of elevation and ocean depths, or bathymetry, reveals the microcontinent of Zealandia. Zealandia broke away from the continents of Australia and Antarctica millions of years ago. The light blue color depicts a large continental shelf of shallow ocean extending to the southeast of Zealandia’s largest land masses, the South and North islands of New Zealand, and northwest towards the islands that make up New Caledonia. The Continents In The World.

Geologic Plates 200mya

200 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed the supercontinent Pangea, surrounded by the Panthalassic Ocean, the oceanic ancestor of the Pacific Ocean.

Antarctica

Antarctica is the only continent with no permanent human habitation. There are, however, permanent human settlements, where scientists and support staff live for part of the year on a rotating basis.

Australia & Oceania

Australia is the largest landmass on the continent of Australia.

South America

South America is a continent of extremes. It is home to the world’s largest river (the Amazon) as well as the world’s driest place (the Atacama Desert).

North America

North America is one of three continents (along with South America and Oceania) that make up the “New World.” The continents were new to 15th-century European explorers but old to the indigenous people living there.

Europe

1Europe is the western peninsula of the giant “supercontinent” of Eurasia. 2Europe is divided from Asia by a series of watersheds, including the Ural River and the Caspian and Black Seas.

Africa

Africa is sometimes nicknamed the “Mother Continent” due to its being the oldest inhabited continent on Earth. Humans and human ancestors have lived in Africa for more than 5 million years.

Asia

Asia is the largest and most populous continent, home to the largest (Russia) and most populous (China) nations.

Canadian Shield

This rock formation, in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, is part of the Canadian Shield. Shields are bare rocks that may be the roots or cores of ancient mountain ranges that have completely eroded away. Geologists estimate the Canadian Shield to be about 3.5 billion years old. The Continents In The World.

La Sierrita, Mexico

A single mountain rises over the Mexican town of Ojinaga. Ojinaga, a town in the state of Chihuahua close to the Texas border, sits near the piedmont area of the mountain, called “la Sierrita” by the locals.

Palouse River

The Palouse River runs through a canyon in southeast Washington. This canyon was probably formed by a combination of tectonic activity and erosion. Tectonic plate movement under the Earth can create landforms by pushing up mountains and hills. Erosion by water and wind can wear downland and create landforms like valleys and canyons. Both processes happen over a long period of time, sometimes millions of years.

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon, in the U.S. state of Arizona, is a product of tectonic uplift. It has been carved, over millions of years, as the Colorado River cuts down through the Colorado Plateau. The Grand Canyon is between 5 million and 70 million years old.

Konza Prairie

Konza Prairie stretches out near Manhattan, Kansas. The American prairie is a steppe ecosystem. A steppe is a dry, grassy plain that occurs in temperate climates.

The article was originally published here.

TO GET MORE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT The Continents In The World, PLEASE VISIT OUR SITE: Forupon.com.

Comments are closed.