Earth Archives

September 20, 2010January 7, 2017 by Matt Williams

What is Carbon Dioxide?

CO2 is more than just the stuff that comes out of smokestacks, tailpipes, cigarettes and campfires. It is also a crucial element here on planet Earth, essential to life and its processes. It is used by plants to make sugars during photosynthesis. It is emitted by all animals, as well as some plants, fungi and microorganisms, during respiration. It is used by any organism that relies either directly or indirectly on plants for food; hence, it is a major component of the Carbon Cycle. It is also a major greenhouse gas, hence why it is so closely associated with Climate Change.

Joseph Black, a Scottish chemist and physician, was the first to identify carbon dioxide in the 1750s. He did so by heating calcium carbonate (limestone) with heat and acids, the result of which was the release of a gas that was denser than normal air and did not support flame or animal life. He also observed that it could be injected into calcium hydroxide (a liquid solution of lime) to produce Calcium Carbonate. Then, in 1772, another chemist named Joseph Priestley came up with of combining CO2 and water, thus inventing soda water. He was also intrinsic in coming up with the concept of the Carbon Cycle.

Since that time, our understanding of CO2 and its importance as both a greenhouse gas and an integral part of the Carbon Cycle has grown exponentially. For example, we’ve come to understand that atmospheric concentrations of CO2 fluctuate slightly with the change of the seasons, driven primarily by seasonal plant growth in the Northern Hemisphere. Concentrations of carbon dioxide fall during the northern spring and summer as plants consume the gas, and rise during the northern autumn and winter as plants go dormant, die and decay.

Traditionally, atmospheric CO2 levels were dependent on the respirations of animals, plants and microorganisms (as well as natural phenomena like volcanoes, geothermal processes, and forest fires). However, human activity has since come to be the major mitigating factor. The use of fossil fuels has been the major producer of CO2 since the Industrial Revolution. By relying increasingly on fossil fuels for transportation, heating, and manufacturing, we are threatening to offset the natural balance of CO2 in the atmosphere, water and soil, which in turn is having observable and escalating consequences for our environment. As is the process of deforestation which deprives the Earth of one it’s most important CO2 consumers and another important link in the Carbon Cycle.

As of April 2010, CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere is at a concentration of 391 parts per million (ppm) by volume. For an illustrated breakdown of CO2 emissions per capita per country, click here.

We have written many articles about Carbon Dioxide for Universe Today. Here’s an article about the Carbon Cycle Diagram, and here’s an article about Greenhouse Effect.

If you’d like more info on Carbon Dioxide, check out NASA’s The Global Climate Change. And here’s a link to The Carbon Cycle.

We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about planet Earth. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_cycle
http://www.eoearth.org/article/carbon_dioxide
http://cdiac.ornl.gov/
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emission/co2.html
http://www.lenntech.com/carbon-dioxide.htm
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/climate-change/science/climate-change-basics/climate-change-101-1/

September 19, 2010December 24, 2015 by Tega Jessa

What Color is the Sky

Space Travel — Atlantis Breaks Through the Clouds

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If you are a parent or are old enough to babysit younger relatives there is one question children ask that stumps most adults. It’s what color is the sky or why is the sky blue. This article will tell you why and do it in as simple a way as possible so that the next time a kids ask the question you have a good answer.

To understand why the sky is blue you need to remember how color works. Color is largely caused by how well an object absorbs the light spectrum. When you see a blue sky you only see blue because all the other colors were absorbed in the air. Any object with color works that way. For example a red ball is read because all the colors of light are absorbed by the ball except for red. This reflected light is what gives the object color.

This is what happens with the sky. The atmosphere is denser than we imagine and the different gases give the atmosphere unique properties in how it absorbs, diffuses, and reflects light. When sunlight passes through our atmosphere a portion of it is scattered and absorbed. The remainder either reaches the surface or is reflected back. The portion that makes it to us observers is 75 percent.

This process is called diffused sky radiation. So to review, we color because objects due to texture of dyes and surfaces absorb all light wavelengths and reflect back one or more. The reason we see the sky as blue is because the molecules in the air scatter the light absorbing most wavelengths of light except for blue.

In addition to this the sky is gray and overcast because of the water droplets in the atmosphere in the forms of clouds and humidity. water refracts light equally unlike air molecules in the atmosphere. This means we get the entirety of white light only it is dimmer just like when you shine a light through a white sheet.

The fact we see a blue sky is good thing because its shows that are atmosphere is at work shielding us from the full energy of the sun’s rays. While the sun is the largest source of energy to our planet, a lot of its high energy radiation that is deadly for living things. Our atmosphere plays it part by shielding us from that. So when you see a blue sky with your kid you can tell them it means the sky is acting like a huge shade blocking out the bad parts of the sun.

We have written many articles about the earth’s sky for Universe Today. Here’s an article about why the sky is blue, and here’s an article about how to find Venus in the sky.

If you’d like more info on the earth’s sky, check out an article about Strange Clouds. And here’s a link to NASA Space Place Article on Blue Sky.

We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about Sky Survey. Listen here, Episode 118: Sky Surveys.

September 17, 2010December 24, 2015 by Jerry Coffey

What Is The Largest Island In The World

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If you were asked what is the largest island in the world, what would you say? Australia maybe? Greenland is the worlds largest island. While Australia is an island, it is considered a continent. Greenland has an area of 2,166,086 square km, but a meager population of 56,452. The populations is over 85% Inuit. The remaining inhabitants are mainly Danish. The average annual temperature of Greenland varies between -9 to 7 °C.

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark. Greenland is a group of islands and Greenland is the name of the largest, most populated one. Greenland has been inhabited on and off since 2500 BC. Denmark established rule in the 18th century. In 1979 Denmark granted home rule, in a relationship known as the Commonwealth of the Realm and in 2008 Greenland voted to transfer more powers to the local government. The Danish royal government is only in charge of foreign affairs, security, financial policy, and providing a subsidy to each citizen.

Greenland is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, the Greenland Sea to the east, the Artic Ocean to the north, and Baffin Bay to the west. The nearest countries to Greenland are Iceland to the east and Canada to the west. The country also contains the world’s largest national park. Scientists have thought for decades that the ice sheet covering the country may actually conceal three separate island land masses that have been bridged by glaciers over the last geologic cooling period.

The Greenland ice sheet covers 1,755,637 square km. It has a volume of 2,850,000 cubic km. Gunnbjorn Fjeld is the highest point on Greenland at 3,700 m. The majority of Greenland is less than 1,500 m in elevation. The weight of the ice sheet has formed a basin that is more than 300 m below sea level.

Between 1989 and 1993, climate researchers drilled into the summit of Greenland’s ice sheet, obtaining a pair of 3 km ice cores. Analysis of the layering and chemical composition of the cores has provided a revolutionary new record of climate change going back about 100,000 years. It illustrated that the world’s weather and temperature have often shifted rapidly from one stable state to another. The glaciers of Greenland are also contributing to a rise in the global sea level at a faster rate than was previously believed.

Greenland is fascinating and intimidating at the same time. To live there is a daily struggle against the elements that has forged a tough people.

We have written many articles about Greenland for Universe Today. Here’s an article about the growing ice sheets in Greenland, and here are some images of Greenland from space.

If you’d like more info on Earth’s islands, check out NASA’s Solar System Exploration Guide on Earth. And here’s a link to NASA’s Earth Observatory.

We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about planet Earth. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

Sources:
World Atlas
Geographia

September 17, 2010December 24, 2015 by Jerry Coffey

What Is The Largest Continent

Asia Image Credit: NASA's Blue Marble project

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There are a few different ways to answer ‘what is the largest continent’. The first is by area and another is by population. By area, Asia is the largest continent at 44,391,162 square km. It is also the largest by population with more than 4 billion people.

There is quite a bit of debate as to how many continents there are. Some areas of the world combine Asia and Europe into one continent called Eurasia. In that case, the continent of Eurasia would be the biggest continent in both area and population.

The debate as to how many continents there are is based in the basic, yet confusing definition of what a continent is. A continent is understood to be large, continuous, discrete mass of land, ideally separated by an expanse of water. Many of the seven most commonly recognized continents identified by convention are not discrete landmasses separated by water. The criteria of being large is used arbitrarily. Greenland has an area of 2,166,086 square km and is considered an island. Australia has an area of 7,617,930 square km, but it is called a continent. The distinct landmass separated by water criteria is sometimes ignored in the case of Europe and Asia. All of the criteria are a consensus, not a rule, so some countries teach a different number of continents.

Whether you have been taught that there are 6 or 7 continents, you need to know that here have been changing numbers of continents since the formation of the Earth. There have been anywhere from 1 to 7 continents. As the tectonic plates have shifted, the continents have broken apart and collided together again. The Earth’s tectonic plates are still moving, so it is hard to predict how many continents there will be in 500,000 years, 1 million years, and so forth.

The answer to ‘what is the largest continent’ is pretty cut and dry. If you consider that there are seven continents, then Asia is the largest in area and population. If you combine Europe and Asia into the continent of Eurasia, it is still the largest by area and population.

We have written many articles about Continent for Universe Today. Here’s an article about the number of continents in the Earth, and here’s an article about the Continental Drift Theory.

If you’d like more info on continents, check out NASA’s Solar System Exploration Guide on Earth. And here’s a link to NASA’s Earth Observatory.

We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about planet Earth. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

Source:
Wikipedia

September 17, 2010March 13, 2018 by Matt Williams

What is an Avalanche?

A powder snow avalanche in the Himalayas near Mount Everest. Credit: Wikipeida Commons/ Ilan Adler

Have you ever noticed how the snow packs on a car windshield after a heavy snowfall? While the temperature is cold, the snow sticks to the surface and doesn’t slide off. After temperatures warm up a little, however, the snow will slide down the front of the windshield, often in small slabs. This is an avalanche on a miniature scale.

On the other hand, a mountain avalanche in North America might release 229,365 cubic meters (300,000 cubic yards) of snow. That’s the equivalent of 20 football fields filled 10 feet deep with snow. However, such large avalanches are often naturally released. They are primarily composed of flowing snow but given their power, they are also capable of carrying rocks, trees, and other forms of debris with them.

In mountainous terrain avalanches are among the most serious objective hazards to life and property, with their destructive capability resulting from their potential to carry an enormous mass of snow rapidly over large distances.

Classification:

Avalanches are classified based on their form and structure, which are also known as “morphological characteristics”. Some of the characteristics include the type of snow involved, the nature of what caused the structural failure, the sliding surface, the propagation mechanism of the failure, the trigger of the avalanche, the slope angle, direction, and elevation.

Loose snow avalanches (far left) and slab avalanches (near center) near Mount Shuksan in the North Cascades mountains. Credit: wikipedia — *Loose snow avalanches (far left) and slab avalanches (near center) near Mount Shuksan in the North Cascades mountains. Credit: Thermodynamic/Wikipedia Commons*

All avalanches are rated by either their destructive potential or the mass they carry. While this varies depending on the geographical region – – all share certain common characteristics, ranging from small slides (or sluffs) that pose a low risk to massive slides that come that pose a significant risk.

An avalanche has three main parts: the starting zone, the avalanche track, and the runout zone. The starting zone is the most volatile area of a slope, where unstable snow can fracture from the surrounding snowcover and begin to slide. The avalanche track is the path or channel that an avalanche follows as it goes downhill. The runout zone is where the snow and debris finally come to a stop.

Causes:

Several factors may affect the likelihood of an avalanche, including weather, temperature, slope steepness, slope orientation (whether the slope is facing north or south), wind direction, terrain, vegetation, and general snowpack conditions. However, weather remains the most likely factor in triggering an avalanche.

During the day, as temperatures increase in a mountainous region, the likelihood of an avalanche increases. Regardless of the time of year, an avalanches will only occur when the stress on the snow exceeds the strength either within the snow itself or at the contact point where the snow pack meets the ground or the rock surface.

An avalanche east of Revelstoke in 2010 Credit: Canadian Avalanche Center — *An avalanche east of the town of Revelstoke, BC, in 2010 Credit: Canadian Avalanche Center*

Although avalanches can occur on any slope given the right conditions, in North America certain times of the year and certain locations are naturally more dangerous than others. Wintertime, particularly from December to April, is when most avalanches will occur with the highest number of fatalities occurs in January, February and March, when the snowfall amounts are highest in most mountain areas.

Deaths Caused by Avalanches:

In the United States, 514 avalanche fatalities have been reported in 15 states from 1950 to 1997. In the 2002–2003 season there were 54 recorded incidents in North America involving 151 people.

In Canada’s mountainous province of British Columbia, a total of 192 avalanche-related deaths were reported between January 1st, 1996 and March 17th, 2014 – an average of roughly ten deaths per year. During the winter of 2014, avalanche concerns also forced the closure of the Trans-Canada highway on a number of occasions.

Avalanches on Other Planets:

Not too surprisingly, Earth is not the only planet in the Solar System to experience avalanches. Wherever their is mountainous terrain and water ice, which is not uncommon, there is the likelihood that material will come loose and cause a cascading slide to take place.

On February 19th, 2008, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the first ever image of active avalanches taking place the Red Planet. The avalanche occurred near the north pole, where water ice exists in abundance, and was captured by the MRO’s HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Experiment) camera completely by accident.

Images taken by the MRO's HiRISE camera show at least four Martian avalanches, or debris falls, taking place near the north pole. Credit: NASA/JPL — *Images taken by the MRO’s HiRISE camera show at least four Martian avalanches, or debris falls, taking place near the north pole. Credit: NASA/JPL*

The images showed material – likely to include fine-grained ice dust and possibly large blocks – detaching from a towering cliff and cascading to the gentler slops below. The occurrence of the avalanches was spectacularly revealed by the accompanying clouds of fine material (visible in the photographs) that continue to settle out of the air.

The largest cloud (shown in the upper images) was about 180 meters (590 feet) across and extended about 190 meters (625 feet) from the base of the steep cliff. Shadows to the lower left of each cloud illustrate further that these are three dimensional features hanging in the air in front of the cliff face, and not markings on the ground.

The photo was unprecedented because it allowed NASA scientists to get a glimpse of a dramatic change on the Martian surface while it was happening. Despite seeing countless pictures that have detailed the planet’s geological features, most appear to have remained unchanged for several million years. It also showed that terrestrial events like avalanches are not confined to planet Earth.

We have written many articles about the avalanche for Universe Today. Here’s an article about the Mars avalanche predicted by geologists, and here’s an article about the volcanic tuff.

If you’d like more info on avalanche, check out NASA Science News: Avalanche on Mars. And here’s a link to the American Avalanche Association Homepage.

We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about planet Earth. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

Sources:

September 17, 2010December 24, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Equator

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An equator is an imaginary line that runs around the surface of a planet, perpendicular to the sphere’s axis of rotation. Of course, the one we’re most interested in is the Earth’s equator. Regions north of the equator are called the Northern Hemisphere, and then south of the equator is the Southern Hemisphere.

Here on Earth, the equator has a length of 40,008.6 kilometers, and its latitude is 0°. And if you can stand on the equator, you’ll see the Sun rise in the East and travel overhead through the day, and then set in the West; on the March and September equinox, the rays from the Sun fall straight down. This is also the spot with the quickest sunrise and sunset times, since the Sun moves exactly perpendicular to the horizon, rising straight up, without moving at an angle to the horizon.

Because the Earth is rotating, turning once a day on its axis, the Earth’s equator bulges out further from the center than from the poles. The Earth isn’t a sphere, but it’s actually an oblate spheroid. The equatorial diameter of the Earth is actually 43 kilometers greater than the polar diameter.

Since it’s the region of Earth that receives the most sunlight, the climate near the equator is hot – it’s summer all the time. People who live near the equator will generally distinguish between a long hot dry season and a long hot wet season. Some of the countries with the equator include Gabon, Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Indonesia, Ecuador, Columbia, and Brazil.

The equator is the best place to launch a spacecraft on Earth. That’s because the rotational speed of the planet adds to the launch velocity of a rocket. Rockets launched from the equator can launch with less fuel, or carry more mass into orbit with the same amount of fuel. This is why the Guiana Space Centre is located in Kourou, French Guiana. And this is also why the Sea Launch platform travels from Los Angeles down to the equator before launching rockets.

We have written many articles about the Equator for Universe Today. Here’s an article about the temperature of the Earth, and here’s an article about the circumference of the Earth.

If you’d like more info on Equator, check out NASA’s Article about Latitude and Longitude. And here’s a link to NASA’s Earth Observatory.

We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about planet Earth. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

Source: Wikipedia

September 15, 2010October 16, 2016 by Jerry Coffey

What Is Pangaea?

Continents might be necessary for life, especially complex life. This image shows super-continent Pangaea during the Permian period (300 - 250 million years ago). Credit: NAU Geology/Ron Blakey

So, you are curious about what is Pangaea? It was the supercontinent that existed 250 million years ago during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. During the ensuing millenia, plate tectonics slowly moved each continent to its current position on the planet. Each continent is still slowly moving across the face of our world.

The breaking up and formation of supercontinents appears to have happened several times over Earth’s history with Pangaea being one among many. The next-to-last one, Pannotia, formed about 600 million years ago during the Proterozoic eon. Pannotia included large amounts of land near the poles and only a relatively small strip near the equator connecting the polar masses.

60 million years after its formation Pannotia broke up, giving rise to the continents of Laurentia, Baltica, and Gondwana. Laurentia would eventually become a large portion of North America, the microcontinent of Avalonia(a small portion of Gondwana) would become the northeastern United States, Nova Scotia, and England. All of these came together at the end of the Ordovician.

While this was happening, Gondwana drifted slowly towards the South Pole. These were the early steps in the formation of Pangaea. The next step was the collision of Gondwana with the other land mass. Southern Europe broke free of Gondwana. By late Silurian time, North and South China rifted away from Gondwana and started to head northward across the shrinking Proto-Tethys Ocean.

Movement continued slowly until the land masses drifted until their current positions. The list of oceans and microcontinents is too long to include in this article. We have many articles about this full process here on Universe Today. The evidence for Pangaea lies in the fossil records from the period. It includes the presence of similar and identical species on continents that are now great distances apart.

Additional evidence for Pangaea is found in the geology of adjacent continents, including matching geological trends between the eastern coast of South America and western Africa. The polar ice cap of the Carboniferous Period covered the southern end of Pangaea. Glacial deposits of the same age and structure are found on many separate continents which would have been together in the continent of Pangaea.

We know that the existence of supercontinents has been proven. We know that they have existed at different times in the Earth’s history. Also, we know that the tectonic plates are still moving. Is it possible that there will be another supercontinent someday in the distant future.

We have written many articles about Pangaea for Universe Today. Here’s an article about the Continental Drift Theory, and here’s an article about the continental plates.

If you’d like more info on Pangaea, check out the Pangaea Interactive Map Game. And here’s a link to NASA’s Continents in Collision: Pangaea Ultima.

We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about Plate Tectonics. Listen here, Episode 142: Plate Tectonics.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangaea
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/historical.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/17701/high/pangaea/

September 14, 2010December 24, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Terminator

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No, this isn’t a movie about robots. The terminator is the line that separates day from night on an object lit by a star. You can see evidence of this terminator when you look at the Moon. When we see the Moon, half in light and half in darkness, we’re seeing the terminator line going right down the middle of the Moon.

From our perspective here on Earth, we see the Sun rise from the East, go through the sky and then set again in the West. But if you could see the Earth from space, you would see half the planet is always illuminated, and half the planet is always in shadow. Since the Earth is rotating, we can watch different parts of the planet illuminated, and other parts darkened. The people on the surface of the planet are experiencing the Sun moving through the sky, but really it’s them who are doing the moving.

The location of the terminator depends on the axial tilt of the object. Since the Earth is tilted by 23.5° away from the Sun’s axis, the position of the terminator changes depending on the season. During summer in the northern horizon, the Earth’s north pole never goes into shadow, so the terminator never crosses the pole. And then in winter in the northern horizon, it never comes out of shadow.

If you could orbit the Earth, just above the equator, you would see the terminator line speeding away at approximately 1,600 km/h (1000 miles per hour). Only the fastest supersonic aircraft can match the terminator’s speed. But as you get closer to the poles, the terminator moves more slowly. Eventually at the poles, you can walk faster than the speed of the terminator.

When you see a terminator from afar, it can tell you a lot about a planet or moon. For example, the Earth’s terminator is fuzzy. This means that our planet has a thick atmosphere that scatters the light from the Sun. The Moon, on the other hand, is airless, so its terminator is a crisp line. When you’re standing on the surface of the Moon, it’s either bright or dark, not the in-between twilight that we experience here on Earth.

We have written many articles about the terminator for Universe Today. Here’s an article about why the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West, and here are some Earthrise photos.

If you’d like more info on Earth, check out NASA’s Solar System Exploration Guide on Earth. And here’s a link to NASA’s Earth Observatory.

We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about planet Earth. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

Reference:
NASA Earth Observatory

September 14, 2010December 24, 2015 by Jerry Coffey

What Is Lithosphere

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Every rocky planet has a lithosphere, but what is lithosphere? It is the rigid outermost shell of a rocky planet. Here on Earth the lithosphere contains the crust and upper mantle. The Earth has two types of lithosphere: oceanic and continental. The lithosphere is broken up into tectonic plates.

Oceanic lithosphere consists mainly of mafic(rich in magnesium and iron) crust and ultramafic(over 90% mafic) mantle and is denser than continental lithosphere. It thickens as it ages and moves away from the mid-ocean ridge. This thickening occurs by conductive cooling, which converts hot asthenosphere into lithospheric mantle. It was less dense than the asthenosphere for tens of millions of years, but after this becomes increasingly denser. The gravitational instability of mature oceanic lithosphere has the effect that when tectonic plates come together, oceanic lithosphere invariably sinks underneath the overriding lithosphere. New oceanic lithosphere is constantly being produced at mid-ocean ridges and is recycled back to the mantle at subduction zones, so oceanic lithosphere is much younger than its continental counterpart. The oldest oceanic lithosphere is about 170 million years old compared to parts of the continental lithosphere which are billions of years old.

The continental lithosphere is also called the continental crust. It is the layer of igneous, sedimentary rock that forms the continents and the continental shelves. This layer consists mostly of granitic rock. Continental crust is also less dense than oceanic crust although it is considerably thicker(25 to 70 km versus 7-10 km). About 40% of the Earth’s surface is now covered by continental crust, but continental crust makes up about 70% of the volume of Earth’s crust. Most scientists believe that there was no continental crust originally on the Earth, but the continental crust ultimately derived from the fractional differentiation of oceanic crust over the eons. This process was primarily a result of volcanism and subduction.

We may not walk directly the lithosphere, but it shapes every topographical feature the we see. The movement of the tectonic plates has presented many different shapes for our planet over the eons and will continue to change our geography until our planet ceases to exist.

We have written many articles about the lithosphere for Universe Today. Here’s an article about the lithosphere, and here’s an article about the tectonic plates.

If you’d like more info on the Earth’s lithosphere, check out NASA’s Solar System Exploration Guide on Earth. And here’s a link to NASA’s Earth Observatory.

We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about planet Earth. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

September 2, 2010December 24, 2015 by Jerry Coffey

What Is A Continent

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You know that there are 7 continents(6 if you were taught geography in Europe) right now, but do you really know the definition of what is a continent? There are many different, and confusing definitions of what a continent is. The most widely accepted one says that a continent is defined as a large, continuous, discrete mass of land, ideally separated by an expanse of water. This definition somewhat confuses things. Many of the current continents are not discrete landmasses separated by water. The word large leads to arbitrary classification: Greenland, with a surface area of 2,166,086 km² is considered the world’s largest island, but Australia with a land mass of 7,617,930 km² is a continent. The qualification that each be a continuous landmass is disregarded because of the inclusion of the continental shelf and oceanic islands and is contradicted by classifying North and South America and Asia and Africa as continents, without a natural separation by water. This idea continues if the land mass of Europe and Asia is considered as two continents. Also, the Earth’s major landmasses are surrounded by one, continuous World ocean that has been divided into a number of principal ‘oceans’ by the land masses themselves and various other geographic criteria.

The number of continents has changed throughout the evolution of the Earth. Plate tectonics and continental drift have forced changes on continental composition. The planet began with one single land mass(the Mesezoic Era). This continent was not suddenly there. It was the result of partially solidified magma being smashed together by plate tectonics and continental drift. Those forces remain at work today.

To further confuse things, different parts of the world teach different versions of the continents. The seven-continent model is usually taught in China and most English speaking countries. A six continent model combining Europe and Asia is preferred by the geographic community, the former parts of the USSR, and Japan. Another six continent model combining North and South America is taught in Latin America and most of Europe.
The answer to ‘what is a continent’ is more by convention than strict definition. Hopefully, this will help to clear some of the confusion that you had before you started reading this article.

We have written many articles about the continents for Universe Today. Here’s an article about the biggest continent, and here’s an article about the continental drift theory.

If you’d like more info on Earth’s continents, check out NASA’s Solar System Exploration Guide on Earth. And here’s a link to NASA’s Earth Observatory.

We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about planet Earth. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

Source: Wikipedia