(NOAA/NASA GOES Project)NATURE

DAVID NIELD9 FEBRUARY 2021

https://www.sciencealert.com/watch-a-billion-years-of-tectonic-plate-movements-in-just-40-seconds

The tectonic plates that cover Earth like a jigsaw puzzle move about as fast as our fingernails grow, but over the course of a billion years that’s enough to travel across the entire planet – as a fascinating new video shows.

In one of the most complete models of tectonic plate movements ever put together, scientists have condensed a billion years of movement into a 40-second video clip, so we can see how these giant slabs of rock have interacted over time.

As they move, the plates affect climate, tidal patterns, animal movements and their evolution, volcanic activity, the production of metals and more: they’re more than just a covering for the planet, they’re a life support system that affects everything that lives on the surface.https://www.youtube.com/embed/gQqQhZp4uG8

“For the first time a complete model of tectonics has been built, including all…