eli5 How does continental drift happen?Aren’t continents connected to the earth?

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eli5 How does continental drift happen?Aren’t continents connected to the earth?

In: Earth Science

2 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Continents sit on giant plates. These plates sit on the gooey stuff that moves around.

Continental drift is caused by these plates moving further away each other.

They’re not stuck hard and fast to the insides of the planet.

Anonymous 0 Comments

>How does continental drift happen?Aren’t continents connected to the earth?

The bigger part of the planet is not a solid. The Earth’s mantle and thus its tectonic plates are connected to the inner parts of the planet the same way as a piece of bark floating in a tub of molasses is connected to the underlying material.