3.1 Continents Vs. Plates

What is the difference between a Plate and Continent. Well some Plates are Continental Plates and others are not (often referred to as Oceanic or crustal Plates). Continental plates are large LANDMASSES, or land above sea level. What is land anyway? If you were adrift on a boat, you would hope to find "land". But what is under the water you are on? Land.... or what we call crust. So crust is everywhere, under the ocean and on land. The large pieces of land, or Landmasses, that are part of large crustal plate are called Continents. North America is a Continental Plate but the Pacific Plate is a plate but not Continental as most of it is under the Ocean, the it is referred to as an Oceanic plate.

When we look at the earth, we can see what appear to be large "pieces" that seem to fit together in some areas like giant pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The Theory of Continental Drift uses this idea, and several others, to argue that the continents were in different places, at different times, and are still moving. The Crust is broken, like an egg shell, and made up of large and small pieces we call Tectonic Plates. There are 8 major plates. 7 are Continental Plates and one is Oceanic. To complete things even more, there are many, many minor plates as well. The earth's crust is solid, but has many moving pieces (Plates). Some bumping into each other (India/Asia), some rub by each other (North America and Pacific Plate; think California), or some just move away from each other (South America and Africa (Mid-Atlantic Ridge). The plates interact sort of like bumper cars, moving away from one causes you to bump into another etc....

Whether we are using a globe or flat map of the world, we will find that all of the world's land is broken up into eight main sections or Plates. 7 of these Plates are called Continents and are obvious "pieces" of land, but one is not (Pacific Plate).

What is land? Is there land under the ocean? Under a Lake? We need to be sure we use the right words when we describe something. Essentially "land" is what we call the parts of the Earth's "CRUST" that is above water. If you on a boat, on a lake you would look to return to "land". Is there land under the lake? Ocean? There is "Crust" (land) under the ocean and under lakes too, but we often don't think about it. So there are Seven Major Landmasses, or continents, and one Oceanic Continent (Pacific Plate (mostly under the Pacific Ocean. The EIGHT major Plates / Continents are

North America,

South America,

Europe,

Asia,

Africa,

Australia/Oceania,and

Antarctica.

Pacific Plate.

Canada is located on the continent of North America.

Oceans make up most of the world's surface area. There are five oceans that separate the continents from one another. They are the

The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean, while the Arctic Ocean is the smallest. The Southern Ocean became the 5th official ocean in the year 2000. Until that year, only 4 oceans were recognized. The Southern Ocean is very far south, and some of its water (in Antartica), like the waters of the Artic Ocean, are frozen.

Can you locate the 8 major Plates/Continents and five oceans

on the map above?

Compass Rose

Let's take a look at where the continents and oceans are located in comparison to each other. We will use the world map and a compass rose. The compass rose will remind us of the directions: north, south, west, and east.

North America

North America lies between two great bodies of water, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean. It is east of the Pacific Ocean, and west of the Atlantic Ocean. The continent of North America is also attached to another continent by a small strip of land. That continent is . . .

South America

South America also lies between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. South America is attached to North America by a small strip of land. Just like North America, the continent of South America sits to the east of the Pacific Ocean, and to the west of the Atlantic Ocean. It is north of the Southern Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean separates South America from another large continent to its east. That continent is . . .

Africa

Africa is surrounded on three sides by oceans. Africa lies east of the Atlantic Ocean, west of the Indian Ocean, and north of the Southern Ocean. The continent of Africa sits directly to the south of another continent. The continent directly to the north of Africa is . . .

Europe

Europe sits to the east of the Atlantic Ocean, and south of the Arctic Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean separates Europe from North America. The continent of Europe shares its eastern border with another continent. This giant land mass is . . .

Asia

Asia is the largest of the continents. Asia is located east of Europe, so it shares its western border with Europe. To the east of Asia, lies the Pacific Ocean, which also separates Asia from North America. South of Asia, lies the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean separates Asia from another continent. That continent is . . .

Australia/Oceania

Australia/Oceania is the smallest of the continents. For many years it has been called simply Australia. The continent is made up of many islands, however. Together we call them the continent of Australia/Oceania. Australia is by far the largest island on the continent. New Zealand, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea, are just a few of the other islands in Australia/Oceania. Australia is surrounded by three oceans. To the west of Australia lies the Indian Ocean. The Pacific Ocean lies to the east. South of Australia is the Southern Ocean. If we travel south across the Southern Ocean, we will find the last of the seven continents. That continent is . . .

Antarctica

Antarctica is the southernmost of the seven continents. In fact, the entire continent of Antarctica lies further south of any piece of land on any other continent! Antarctica is surrounded by the Southern Oceans. All of the other oceans lie to the north of Antarctica, and of course, all of the other six continents are also north of Antarctica.

Pacific