Michael Stiezznow, Age 12, Of Madison, Wisc., for his question;

  Is it true that the continents are drifting apart?

The theory of continental drift suggests that the land masses were once joined together. For a time this theory was out of style. But new evidence from rocks, From the sea bed and frozen Antarctica is causing geologists to take a second look. If we can prove that the continents drifted in the past, we may assume that they are still drifting apart.

Our global map certainly has changed in the past. Recent evidence froze Antarctica proves that this was not always a cold land. Either the south pole has Shifted or Antarctica has shifted. Today it is a barren land, but its minerals and Fossils prove that it once supported plant and animal life.  What's more, the fossils have been dated. Certain plants and animals were living at the same periods in South Africa, South America, Australia and Antarctica. These Widely separated lands have ridges left by an ice age glacier some 250 million years ago. If this glacial drift is placed in a line, the land masses of the southern Hemisphere come together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

In other parts of the world, magnetic rocks indicate that land masses have moved in relation to the poles. North of the equator, fossils and rock formations are repeated on both sides of the Atlantic. If we include the massive underwater Atlantic Ridge, the old world and the new also fit like pieces of a jigsaw. If we include the shallow continental shelves, the hand masses fit even closer. The theory of this continental drift, is still being investigated and more data Is needed to prove it. Most experts suspect that the present continents were once one land mass which broke into segments and drifted apart. If this is proved, there is good reason to think that the continents are still drifting apart.

The original land mass may have existed some 200 million years ago, in the Coal making carboniferous period. The large sections may have cracked some 50 million years ago. Since then, the continents seem to have been drifting farther and farther apart.

The continents rest on thick layers of dense pre cambrian rocks. In turn, they rest on the mantle of still denser basalt rocks. It is hard to imagine these sturdy masses drifting around the globe. It is also hard to imagine that the proud rockies arose from a vast ditch, but they did. If this amazing geological event is true, then perhaps we dare imagine the notion of drifting continents.