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The imperceptible ballet of the continents
This album, based on scientific research which was initially intended only for expert eyes, gives an accessible guide to the evolution of our planet over the last 250 million years and will appeal to all those who, in our rushed modern world, want to read a story that deals in millions of years.

It takes as its starting point the breakup of the Pangaea (the original single continent) which led to the continental masses we have today. There and then began a cycle of the newly emerged plates breaking apart or moving closer together to join up once again. (This happened 1.5 billion years ago and then 750 million years ago.)

The introduction gives a clear explanation of this perpetual mobility and stresses that the Earth, unlike Mars or Venus, is a living planet that evacuates part of its internal energy to the surface. This energy causes the movements known as convection, which affect the earth’s mantle. These constant movements cause the lithosphere, or the earth’s crust, to divide up into plates, which in turn move. This process, known as plate tectonics, is one of the main causes of earthquakes and volcanic activity.

This epic adventure is split into ten sequences. Each is illustrated with a paleogeographic map, which shows the Earth at a certain time and allows the reader to easily situate the illustrations chronologically. The accompanying commentary retraces the principal geological events of the period and gives all the explanations a reader could need.

The eleventh and final map shows the geology of the Earth today and the ages of rock formations. This package is completed by an extremely useful glossary and an easy-to-load CD-ROM which features all the material in the book and includes a Powerpoint animation.