LANDMASSES OF THE EARTH

PHYSCI M5 (EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 1)

PREPARED BY: NMBICOMONG
CONTINENTS
Great landmass of the Earth
Nearly surrounded by water
Believed that about 250 years ago, there was only one giant landmass named PANGAEA that broke apart gradually
in different directions
Forces within the land and the impact of the ocean water caused the continents to change shape
CONTINENTS
Eurasia (Europe and Asia are separated only by Ural Mountains so they are often referred to as Eurasia)
Africa (connected to Eurasia by a very small piece of land)
North America
South America
Antarctica
Australia (the smallest continent but the biggest island; the only continent that is a country)
(connected by Central America which is just south of USA)
CONTINENTS
CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY
Proposed by Alfred Wegener (German meteorologist) in 1912
Pangaea - a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras, forming about 300 million
years ago.

It began to break apart around 200 million years ago.

The single global ocean which surrounded Pangaea
is accordingly named Panthalassa.

CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY
CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY
The theory is widely accepted due to the following facts:
(1) Fitting of irregular coastlines to each other
(2) Similarity of fossils and rock formations found in widely separated areas
(3) Concentration of in the northern hemisphere
(4) Mountain borders of American continents could have been created by crumpling due to friction of continental
rocks against underlying rock strata as the continents drifted westward
LAND FEATURES OF THE EARTHS CRUST
MOUNTAINS
The highest regions of disturbed or deformed rocks with steep slopes pushed high (usually 600 meters and above
their surroundings) by forces inside the earth.
Commonly found near and parallel to edges of continents. These are places where rock is and where there are plenty
of intense folding, faulting caused by movements of the crust, and magma intrusion called by vulcanism
Origins of Mountains
Mountains are formed when masses of rocks have been folded, tilted, shaped into domes, or built up from volcanic
materials
Erosional Mountains left behind when streams or glaciers erode soft parts of the landscape.
Folded Mountains formed by strong sidewise pressure within the earth. This makes rock layers fold or bend
upwards for thousands of meters.
Mountain Formation
Contraction Hypothesis
Expansion Hypothesis
Convection Hypothesis
Continental Drift Hypothesis
[ASSIGNMENT]

Mt. Everest Mt. Fuji

Mt. Kanlaon Mt. Apo

Mt. Makiling Sierra Madre

Chocolate Hills