Which of Earth's continents moves the fastest? And where is it moving?

(CLO) All tectonic plates on Earth are constantly moving, however, some plates move faster than others.

Australia is now the world's fastest-moving continent, sitting atop the Indo-Australian tectonic plate, which is drifting at about 7 cm per year. That's about the speed at which human hair and fingernails grow.

According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Earth's tectonic plates move about 1.5 cm per year on average. Compared to that rate, Australia is far ahead of other continents as it continues to drift north.

Technically, the Indo-Australian plate includes not only mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania, but also covers part of Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and a large area of ​​the Indian Ocean.

Map of the Earth's major tectonic plates. (Photo: GI/Shutterstock)

It is predicted that in the next tens of millions of years, the Indo-Australian plate will likely collide with the bottom of the Eurasian plate in Southeast Asia and China, forming a new supercontinent that some scientists call "Austrasia".

This is not unprecedented in Earth’s history. About 200 million years ago, Australia was still part of Gondwana – the giant supercontinent that once covered much of the Southern Hemisphere. Gondwana included the Antarctic, South American, Indo-Australian and African plates, all attached to each other. Meanwhile, Laurasia – the precursor to today’s Europe, Asia and North America – was in the Northern Hemisphere.

It is worth remembering that the surface of the Earth is always in motion – albeit very slowly. We do not feel this change in our daily lives, but the reality is that our planet is not as “still” as it appears.

Tectonic plates are constantly shifting: some are colliding, some are pulling apart. Instead of imagining the Earth as a solid mass of rock, we can imagine it as a cracked road surface moving slowly on a giant conveyor belt. Some cracks are widening, some are compressing – and the whole surface is moving, just too slowly to be noticed by the naked eye.

While this rate of movement is slow by human standards, it is still fast enough to affect modern technology. Satellite navigation systems like GPS rely on fixed coordinates to determine location. However, as tectonic plates move, the actual location of points on Earth begins to deviate from the locations recorded on maps.

Australia is a prime example: until 2017, the country was using the coordinate system from 1994. Over the past 23 years, the Australian continent has drifted 1.6 meters from its original position, requiring an update. In fact, Australia has officially “moved” about 1.8 meters to the northeast.

Ha Trang (according to IFL Science)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/luc-dia-nao-cua-trai-dat-di-chuyen-nhanh-nhat-va-no-di-chuyen-ve-dau-post341603.html