Continents During the Tertiary Period

The continents at the beginning of the Tertiary Period

• At the beginning of the Tertiary Period, Europe and Africa were already separated from North and South America by an ocean basin, which was in the process of widening. However, North America was also split from South America and large parts of what are now the United States were flooded. India was still an island at this time. The continents that existed then are referred to as North America, Greenland, Iberia, Northern Europe and Asia.

Continental shifts during the Tertiary Period

• The movement of the continents during the Tertiary Period continued from the preceding Cretaceous Period and created many of the Earth's present-day mountain ranges, including the Alps, the Himalayas, the Andes and the Rocky Mountains. Gradually, the gap between the Americas and Africa and Europe widened during this period. As the Tertiary Period progressed, a land bridge between North and South America started to become apparent. Antarctica reached its current position over the South Pole and gradually became covered in ice.

The continuing movement of the Earth's plates

• By around 30 million years ago, well before the start of the Quaternary Period, the continents looked as they do in the modern era. However, the movement of the Earth's continental "tectonic" plates still continues, as is proved by the slight but measurable increase in the height of Mount Everest every year. This happens because of the pushing together of the Indian and Eurasian plates, which brought together Asia and the former island India.

The effects of the Tertiary Period on the Earth

• The movement of the continents during the Tertiary Period caused the formation of many volcanoes, which helped to cool the Earth's surface by emitting carbon dioxide. This process meant that the Earth cooled from a generally tropical climate at the end of the Cretaceous Period, to the point where the last Ice Age began at the start of the Quaternary Period. Throughout the Tertiary Period, mammals and plants flourished and some 6 million years ago, the first descendants of human beings appeared in Africa.