Forget what you learned in elementary school — The Earth doesn’t haveseven continentsafter all.
From a young age, we're taught that the world consists of Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America. However, new research suggests that this isn't the caseA recent study published in the journalGondwana Researchproposes that we actually have six continents. This extraordinary claim results from detailed research into the geological processes behind the breakup of Europe and North America and how these landmasses have evolved over time
Dr. Jordan Phethean, the study’s lead author from theUniversity of Derby, explained that his team’s findings indicate, “the North America and Eurasian tectonic plates have not yet actually broken apart, as is traditionally thought to have happened 52 million years ago.”
Instead, these plates are continuing to stretch and are still in the process of breaking apart, rather than being wholly separate entities. In other words, North America and Europe could be considered a single continent rather than two distinct ones.
Forget what you learned in elementary school — The Earth doesn’t have seven continents after all.
From a young age, we're taught that the world consists of Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America. However, new research suggests that this isn't the caseA recent study published in the journal Gondwana Research proposes that we actually have six continents. This extraordinary claim results from detailed research into the geological processes behind the breakup of Europe and North America and how these landmasses have evolved over time
Dr. Jordan Phethean, the study’s lead author from the University of Derby, explained that his team’s findings indicate, “the North America and Eurasian tectonic plates have not yet actually broken apart, as is traditionally thought to have happened 52 million years ago.”
Instead, these plates are continuing to stretch and are still in the process of breaking apart, rather than being wholly separate entities. In other words, North America and Europe could be considered a single continent rather than two distinct ones.