|
|
Article: Our planet on a plate; Books.
- Article from:
- The Evening Standard (London, England)
- Article date:
- March 8, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Solo Syndication Limited. 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)
|
Byline: OLIVER RACKHAM
THE EARTH: An Intimate History by Richard Fortey (Harper Collins, [pounds sterling]25)
THE world is not a solid globe of green cheese, although some people behave as if it were. The continents and ocean floors are thin and somewhat flexible crusts of rock, floating on a gooey under-layer somewhat like stiff Camembert. They wander about, driven by an unseen nuclear reactor deep within the planet; they shove and slide and jostle and crumple, rise and sink, to form mountains and ocean depths.
Because the cheesy layer is very, very stiff, continents drift at only a millimetre a week or so. Although this adds up to ...