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Article: Married to Antarctica: new theory proposes an ancient wedding between North America and the lonely polar continent. (continental drift)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- April 27, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Married to Antarctica
By trade, geologists display a rather cavalier attitude toward the continents. In their minds or on computer screens they frequently rearrange the world, shuffling about Africa and Asia faster than an interior decorator might move sofas.
But even those long accustomed to the game of continental twister are doing a double take at a novel theory about Earth's ancient history. Two researchers propose that North America and Antarctica once lay side by side, locked together in a marathon union spanning perhaps more than a billion years.
"I think it's pretty surprising to most people. When I first told it to a colleague of ...