How were the continents of the world formed?
The Earth was formed as dust coalesced out of the stellar cloud about 4 billion years ago. Some billion years later, another planet, about the size of Mars, collided with Earth and changed the nice even ball of iron and rock into an unbalanced ball of iron and rock being orbited by the Moon. The rocky material, lighter than iron, floats on the surface to a depth of about 30 miles. The Oceanic crust is only about 6 miles deep. The depth of the Pangaea crust created pressures that enabled molten material to crack it apart and force the pieces away from each other. The parts are now the current continents. The have been moving in the general direction of the impact site for the last several billion years in a natural attempt to re-balance the Earth. The weight of the crust is too small compared to the iron core to derive enough energy to move faster. If the Earth was made of only one material such as iron, or a gas such as methane, it would have returned to a nearly perfect sphere without
