What is the mainland

The continent, in another way they say "continent" - is an array of the earth's crust, a significant part of which protrudes above the surface of the oceans. Therefore, the mainland can be not only land, but also its underwater part, it is called peripheral. The very concept of "continent" means "stick together", thus, this structural unity of the canvas, defined as the mainland, was originally established.

Instruction manual

one

It is necessary to distinguish the continents from the islands. These differences are more related to the geophysical properties of the latter. So, the continental crust is much older, larger and lighter than the oceanic, which serve as the basis of the islands. However, many scientists are inclined to believe that some of the islands can be called mainland, for example, the British, Newfoundland and Madagascar, among the oceanic - Bermuda, Hawaiian and Guam.

In a simplified sense, islands are part of the land, surrounded on all sides by water and constantly rising above it.

2

It is believed that the mainland zone is distinguished only by relative stability and varies depending on the geographical era. In the modern, for example, there are 6 continents, the largest of which is Eurasia. Eurasia occupies more than a third of all the land of the planet, it is located in all four hemispheres of the Earth and is washed by four oceans. Further, in decreasing order of size: Africa (30.3 million km²), North America (24.25 million km²), South America (18.28 million km²), Australia (7.7 million km²) and Antarctica (about 14 million km²). The latter is a unique geographical object that scientists do not stop exploring, its entire territory is covered by ice shelves, so it is still the highest continent of the globe. The surface height of Antarctica is determined by more than 2000 meters, its ice sheet is considered one of the largest on the planet.

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Each continent is based on one platform, and only Eurasia has six, while the Arabian and Hindustan platforms that underlie it are considered alien to the mainland, because they are part of Gondwana and are adjacent to Asia. And although the boundaries for all continents are obvious, the border between Europe and Asia is conditional. Lines of deep faults are considered to be this boundary.

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