What is plate tectonics and how do continents move?
Drifting Stone Rafts
What is plate tectonics and how do continents move?
Here's something strange and true: the ground under your feet is moving. Not fast enough to feel — about as fast as your fingernails grow — but moving all the same. The continents are not glued in place. They are drifting, slowly, like enormous rafts on a sea you can't see.
To understand why, peek inside the Earth. It isn't a solid rock all the way down. Think of it like a peach: a thin crispy skin on the outside, a thick warm middle, and a hot pit at the center. The crispy skin is where we live. It's surprisingly thin compared to everything below.
