The Formation and Fragmentation of Continents
When this break-up of Pangea began, a westward waterway from the mother ocean (Panthalassa) in the form of a broad gulf (called Tethys) encroached gradually over Pangea, breaking it into a northern continent (Laurasia) and a southern one (Gondwana).
Further fragmentation produced the present continental masses, which are currently undergoing more breaking up. The original rift is now the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, whose axis is still an active site of basaltic outpourings similar to many other rift zones along which current sea-floor spreading is taking place (cf. El-Naggar, Z.R., 1991, p. 42-45 and Emiliani, C., 1992: p 237, 238).
Basaltic material has been pouring out gradually from more than 64,000 km of mid-ocean rift valleys on both sides of such ruptures in the Earth’s crust, since the very early days of their formation. The youngest oceanic crust is always around the deep rift valley and has steadily been pushing older crusts away from it.
The age of the oldest existing oceanic crust doesn’t exceed the Mesozoic era (about 200 million years old), and is currently being consumed at the convergent edges of the plates with rates almost equivalent to the rate of producing new oceanic crust at the mid-oceanic ridges.
Volcanic mountains are also found on the continents such as the isolated peaks of Mount Ararat (5100m above sea level), Etna (3300m), Vesuvius (1300m), Kilimanjaro (5900m) and Mount Kenya (5100m).
These are associated with intra-cratonic, deep rift systems that traverse the whole thickness of the lithosphere, and communicate with the asthenosphere, and hence are currently fragmenting the existing continents into smaller landmasses.
From the above mentioned discussion, it becomes obvious that the magnificent network of deep fault systems (65-150km deep) that encircle the globe for tens of thousands of kilometers in all directions {breaking its outer rocky zone (the lithosphere) into major, lesser and minor plates, microplates (or platelets), plate fragments and remnants} is one of the most striking realities of our planet.
The Divine Wisdom Behind Earth’s Design
Without these deep fault systems the Earth could not possibly have been inhabitable. This is simply because of the fact that it is through such deep faults that both the atmosphere and the hydrosphere have been outgassed and are constantly rejuvenated, continents are steadily built and fragmented, mountains are constructed, the crust is periodically enriched with new minerals, lithospheric plates are moved, the accumulating internal heat of the Earth is gradually and steadily released and the whole dynamics of our planet are achieved.
Consequently, such as established fact of the Earth is so vital for its existence as well as for our own survival on its surface that it becomes well deserving to be mentioned in the Glorious Qur’an as one of the signs of The Creator. However, such a fact didn’t attract the attention of Earth scientists until after the Second World War, and wasn’t fully understood until the late sixties and the early seventies of this century.
The Qur’anic precedence of such an established salient feature of the Earth more than 14 centuries ago is one of numerous signs that clearly testify for the purely Divine nature of this illustrious Book, and for the truthfulness of the Prophethood of Mohammad (PBUH).
This article is from our archive and is currently republished for its importance and uniqueness.
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