China shoots down satellite

[MCHeshPants420]

I think this could go on and on.


You could divide north America using the Rockies as an excuse.
You could divide South America using the Andes as an excuse.
You could divide Australia using Rikk.

I don't think you could use the Rockies or Andes to be honest.

Geologists use the term continent in a different manner than geographers. Rather than simply identifying large land masses, geologists have distinct criteria for identifying continents. Continents are portions of the Earth's crust characterized by a stable platform of Precambrian metamorphic and igneous rock (typically 1.5 to 3.8 billion years old) largely of granitic composition, called the craton, and a central "shield" where the craton is exposed at the surface. The craton itself is an accretionary complex of ancient mobile belts (mountain belts) from earlier cycles of subduction, continental collision and break up from plate tectonic activity. An outward-thickening veneer of younger, minimally deformed sedimentary rock covers much of the rest of the craton. The margins of the continents are characterized by currently-active or relatively recently active mobile belts and/or deep troughs of accumulated marine or deltaic sediments. Beyond the margin, there is either a continental shelf and drop off to the basaltic-rock ocean basin or the margin of another continent, depending on the current plate-tectonic setting of the continent. A continental boundary does not have to be a body of water. Over geologic time, continents are periodically submerged under large epicontinental seas, and continental collisions result in a continent becoming attached to another continent. The current geologic era is relatively anomalous in that so much of the continental areas are "high and dry" compared to much of geologic history.

I'm undecided (or couldn't actually give a piss) though I can see there are plenty of valid arguments for 4, 5, 6, 7, 8+ continents in the world. Global warming will probably make things even more confused.

[manker]

Feck, all this talk about continents cos Ava required it to be spelled out that Cardiff is on a different one to Washington.

[Barbarossa]

<< insert another incontenance joke here >>

[lynx]

What about Pluto? That's about the same size as America (North or South), and it is definitely a distinct land mass.

Mind you, it seems to have disappeared from the list.
Maybe someone's already shot it down.

[Biggles]

I think this could go on and on.


You could divide north America using the Rockies as an excuse.
You could divide South America using the Andes as an excuse.
You could divide Australia using Rikk.

Given the Continent concept probably originated in Europe and as they didn't know much of the rest of the world existed it is hardly surprising that at the Urals they simply put "beyond here be dragons".

The Panama canal surely makes N and S America two separate chaps - bit like a successful conjoined twins op.

The original premise seemed to be that Cardif was not a Continent - I took great comfort in this this as it meant that inter-stellar missiles could not be fired at cities only continents (apparently).

[Mr JP Fugley]

It seems unlikely that they would have mentioned you specifically in his classes. Unless of course you are a famous Geographer :earl:.

To be fair you seem to have been everything else, including but not limited to a lesbian vegetarian. So I suppose it's possible.

Are you another JP, or just another troll, both maybe? Do you ever have anything constructive to say to anyone? I guess being a catholic you can just confess every now and then and feel good about yourself, however, to non-catholics you really are a bit of a dick.

It's been really nice watching you turn back into Billy. Hadaway and ask them to change your name to BD or something, that would be dead cool like.

[Busyman™]

By the geologists' definition, Europe and Asia are separate continents since they have separate, distinct ancient shield areas and a distinct newer mobile belt (the Ural Mountains) forming the mutual margin.

Proof you don't know what you're talking about. There is a geological basis.

That's not proof. That's simply an excuse.

"Hey lets divide continents by mountain ranges. Yeah that's it."

[Busyman™]

Feck, all this talk about continents cos Ava required it to be spelled out that Cardiff is on a different one to Washington.

[MCHeshPants420]

Proof you don't know what you're talking about. There is a geological basis.

That's not proof. That's simply an excuse.

"Hey lets divide continents by mountain ranges. Yeah that's it."

Though, if you read it properly, this particular geologist argument would be that you can't just define a continent by distinct land masses or divide them just by bodies of water. This geologist argument is certainly not as trivial as you attempt to make it out to be, nor does it just make that one point you put in quote marks.

[Busyman™]

Proof you don't know what you're talking about. There is a geological basis.

That's not proof. That's simply an excuse.

"Hey lets divide continents by mountain ranges. Yeah that's it."

Though, if you read it properly, this particular geologist argument would be that you can't just define a continent by distinct land masses or divide them just by bodies of water. This geologist argument is certainly not as trivial as you attempt to make it out to be, nor does it just make that one point you put in quote marks.

Mmmk but there's a shitload of contiguous land attaching Europe and Asia.

Tectonic plate shifts and all o dat be damned. Africa and Asia as well as North America and South America touch by a cunt's hair yet (if I heard correctly) there were some that taught that America is one huge continent yet Europe and Asia are "separate".

The Fook?