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Riled Up is a journal of science, the environment, exploration, new technology, and related commentary.  Contributors include scientists, explorers, engineers, and others who provide perspectives and context not typically offered in general news circulation.  For interested readers, additional resources are included.

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Interactive Continental Maps
Hugh Bollinger

Interactive Continental Maps

Continental plates and the breakup of Pangea (credit: Wikicommons)

The Earth's crust consists of multiple, rocky sections (plates) that move up, over, and under each other while being carried on portions of the Earth's interior mantle. Imperceptible over human time scales but dramatic over eons Continental Drift is one of the most fundamental of geological processes. It influenced the earliest forms of life to begin evolving on planet Earth.

An interactive map was developed which allows anyone to view different geologic eras from today's existing geography back through the previous one billion years of continental movements. It was developed by Ian Webster, an experimental software programmer at Google, and shows the constantly shifting surface of the Earth over the last 750 million years. Webster utilized plate tectonics and other digital mapping tools, to illustrate how the continents changed over this vast time-line with his PaleoMap Project.  Establish your home location into the map's coordinates and watch the geography change for yourself. WHB

                          Paleogeography animation (credit: PaleoMap Project)

 

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