----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Learning Kingdom's Cool Fact of the Day for September 13, 1999
----------------------------------------------------------------------
When was there only one giant continent?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Throughout Earth's history the continents have been moving around,
pushed by deep currents of semi-liquid rock. About 400 million years
ago all the land masses came together to form one single continent.
In those days plants had just started coming onto land, along with
primitive scorpion-like creatures.
The huge land mass called Pangea formed when the two smaller
continents Gondwana and Laurasia slowly merged, a process which took
millions of years. After more millions of years, Pangea began to
break apart and some of the continents we have today were formed.
About 95 million years ago, today's continents of Africa and South
America split apart, forming the Atlantic Ocean. About 55 million
years ago, the subcontinent of India pushed up against southern Asia,
forming the magnificent Himalaya mountains.
A snapshot of the planet just before Pangea broke apart:
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/mesozoic.html
The formation of Pangea and its effect on global climate:
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/carboniferous/carbtect.html
More Cool Facts about the moving continents:
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/11/06.html
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/07/02.html
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/06/09.html
Today's Sponsor: KidSolutions http://www.kidsolutions.com
Need new ideas for spending time with your Kids?
We've got the Solutions! The KidSolutions Weekly e-zine features
humorous and heartwarming stories, games, travel & craft tips,
kid friendly recipes, money saving tips and more! To get your FREE
weekly subscription, send a blank e-mail to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kidsolutions.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Cool Fact of the Day list membership: 168,567
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To send a free gift subscription: http://www.tlk-lists.com/giftsub/
Subscribing, unsubscribing, address changes:
Existing subscribers: http://www.tlk-lists.com/change/
To join as a new subscriber: http://www.tlk-lists.com/join/
To become a sponsor: http://www.tlk-lists.com/sponsor/
Feedback: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 1999, The Learning Kingdom, Inc.
http://www.LearningKingdom.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
