Rise of the Continents

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[edit] General Information

Nature Documentary hosted by Iain Stewart, published by BBC in 2013 - English narration

[edit] Cover

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Professor Iain Stewart reveals how our iconic continents were created, and how their tumultuous past has shaped our life today.

[edit] Africa

Geologist Prof Iain Stewart shows how the continent of Africa was formed from the wreckage of a long lost supercontinent. He discovers clues in its spectacular landmarks, mineral wealth and iconic wildlife, that help piece together the story of Africa's formation. But he also shows how this deep history has left its mark on the modern day Africa and the world.

[edit] Australia

Professor Iain Stewart uncovers the mysterious history of Australia, and shows how Australia's journey as a continent has affected everything from Aboriginal history to modern day mining, and even the evolution of Australia's bizarre wildlife, like the koala.

[edit] The Americas

Professor Iain Stewart uncovers clues hidden within the New York skyline, the anatomy of American alligators and inside Bolivian silver mines, to reconstruct how North and South America were created. We call these two continents the New World, and in a geological sense they are indeed new worlds, torn from the heart of an ancient supercontinent - the Old World of Pangaea.

[edit] Eurasia

Two hundred million years ago the continent we know as Eurasia - "the vast swathe of land that extends from Europe in the West to Asia in the East" - didn't exist. Prof Iain Stewart shows that where the South of Eurasia is today there was once a ninety-million-square-kilometre Ocean known as the Tethys. It is the destruction of the Tethys Ocean that holds the key to Eurasia's formation. But the formation of Eurasia is just the beginning of the story, because the process that formed it is still active today. Prof Stewart travels to the island of Stromboli, Italy's most continually active volcano. The volcano's spectacular eruptions show that the ocean floor is being pulled beneath Eurasia. It is this process that closed the Tethys, and today is closing the Mediterranean, revealing Eurasia's future. 250 million years in the future all of the continents will collide together once more, forming a new Pangea, with Eurasia right at its heart.