Continents may not have been created in the way we thought

From the 1950s until recently, we thought we had a clear idea of how continents form. Most people will have heard of plate tectonics: moving pieces on the surface of the planet that collide, pull away or slide past one another over millions of years to shape our world.

There are two types of crust that sit on top of these plates: oceanic crust (that beneath our oceans) and continental crust (that beneath our feet). These move across the surface of the Earth at rates of up to 10cm per year. Many are in a state of constant collision with one another.

Their formation is undergoing something of a re-think................

http://theconversation.com/continents-may-not-have-been-created-in-the-way-we-thought-33334