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Rise of the Continents: Unlocking the Secrets of a Lost Land

"Across the Earth there are traces of a mysterious land unlike anything seen today - a supercontinent that split apart to create our world. This is the story of how life, land and time came together to create the extraordinary diversity of the seven continents. This amazing four part series pieces together the story of Earth's shifting continents. Driven by the immense inner power of the planet, it is the story both of how our world came to be and what it might become in the future."
  • Title ID 94-RC
  • Science, Earth Science, Geology, Physical Science, Geography
  • 4 Programs
  • 5 Supplemental Files
  • 10th Grade through Post Secondary
  • Published by The BBC
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Included Programs
Supplemental Files

Included Programs

Episode 1 - AfricaRunning time is 49 minutes

Episode one examines the evidence of Africa's creation when it split off from Pangea, including geographic features such as Victoria Falls, The Zambezi River, the Serengeti, and the Great African Rift, as well as the fossil bones Basilosaurus, singled celled plankton known as nummulites, and diamonds.

Episode 2 - AustraliaRunning time is 50 minutes

Episode two looks at Australia and its strange transformation from part of Antarctica to a separate continent, as it split off and moved northwards into warmer climes. Australia's move can be documented in its strange fauna, such as the platypus and the koala bear, in its interesting fossils like glossopteris, the gemstones opals, and in places such as the Banda Sea, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Episode 3 - AmericaRunning time is 48 minutes

Episode three looks at North and South America, which have some of the most spectacular landscapes on earth, including the Grand Canyon, the Andes Mountains, the Atacama Desert and the Hudson Palisades, all of which show North and South America split away from Pangea hundreds of millions of years ago.

Episode 4 - EurasiaRunning time is 49 minutes

Episode four examines how Eurasia was shaped by a series of collisions. Mountain ranges such as the Alps, the Himalayas, the Zagros and Taurus have been pushed up and a once great ocean, the Tethys, has come and gone. These events created conditions in which great civilizations flourished along the Mediterranean Sea and in India. Evidence of Eurasia's formation can be found in the Bosporus Straits, Istanbul, Madagascar, a small fish known as the karimeen or green chromide and the Stromboli volcano.

Supplemental Files

MARC Records for RC
MARC records for the series Rise of the Continents: Unlocking the Secrets of a Lost Land
Transcription for Episode 1 - Africa
Transcription for Episode 2 - Australia
Transcription for Episode 3 - America
Transcription for Episode 4 - Eurasia