Is it significant that the majority of the Earth's landmasses are in northern hemisphere

A.� No, the earth's surface isn't a solid mass; it's made up of plates. These plates move, taking the continents with them. The official term for this is plate tectonics.

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Consequently the size, shape and position of the continents are different today than in the past and what they will be in the present.

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It's pure coincidence that the majority of the earth's landmasses are in northern hemisphere; just the way things are at the moment.

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Q.� The moment

A.� Yes, at various times in the past, much of the Earth's land masses were clustered in the southern hemisphere in a super continent called Gondwanaland.

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Q.� What's Gondwanaland

A.� The name given to super continent that existed during the Cambrian Period.

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Q.� What was Gondwanaland comprised of

A.� This large continent comprised of Australia, Antarctica, and South America on Earth's eastern side. North America and Greenland formed a large island near the equator and Europe formed a small island south of equator. North America and Europe were separated by the Iapetus Ocean or present-day Atlantic Ocean.

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Q.� Was Gondwanaland the biggest super continent ever

A.� No, that title probably goes to Pangaea, that existed from the Permian through Jurassic periods, around 200 million years ago, which split up to form Gondwanaland and Laurasia.

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Pangaea, which is Greek for 'all earth', started to break up into two smaller super continents, called Laurasia and Gondwanaland, during the late Triassic.

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Do you have a question about our earth Click here to ask.

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by Lisa Cardy