THE CONTINENTS MOVEMENT IS LIKE A WALKING CLOUD

Indeed, there are many natural phenomena that are told in the Qur'an, one of which is that the mountain continues to move like the path of a cloud. The scientists also agreed that the mountains were not silent as we thought, but were moving. In theory, the movements of the mountains are caused by the movement of the earth's crust where they are located. The earth's crust is like floating above a more dense layer of magma. This mountain movement can also be considered a continental movement.

Surah An-Naml verse 88:

وَتَرَى ٱلۡجِبَالَ تَحۡسَبُهَا جَامِدَةٗ وَهِيَ تَمُرُّ مَرَّ ٱلسَّحَابِۚ صُنۡعَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّذِيٓ أَتۡقَنَ كُلَّ شَيۡءٍۚ إِنَّهُۥ خَبِيرُۢ بِمَا تَفۡعَلُونَ  ٨٨

88.  And you see the mountains, thinking them rigid, while they will pass as the passing of clouds. [It is] the work of Allah, who perfected all things. Indeed, He is Acquainted with that which you do.

Geologists argue that widening oceanic bases, continental movements, seismic patterns, and volcanic activities are part of an energy push from the bowels of the earth. The surface of the Earth consists of six stretches of continental plates that are hard, but far thinner than the size of a globe. The thickness of these continents is no more than 150 km. The continental plates rub against each other. Movements shifting the earth's crust are also caused by intense pressure from energy originating from the bowels of the earth.

For example, the Asian Continent consists of three large plates, namely Eurasia, the Pacific, and India. Eurasia is the largest and relatively static plate, while the Pacific and Indian plates continue to move northwest (Pacific) and north (India). These "collision" movements form islands and mountain ranges such as the Himalayas.

The important things about the continental movement are as follows:

1.      Tectonic plate movements continue to occur causing changes in the surface of the earth.

2.      The source of movement comes from currents caused by heat. This current occurs in solid but springy rock in the asthenosphere layer of the earth's envelope.

3.      Tectonic plates can melt when approaching the earth's shell and out through volcanoes, fissures, or cracks. While leaving oceanic cracks, melting rocks form a new base in the sea.

4.      Melting rock founds pushing forward parts of the older earth crust. Older parts may support continents. If that part of the earth's crust meets the tip, then the impact causes an earthquake.

5.      The theory of tectonic plate movements is mostly related to the spread of volcanoes on the earth's surface and the occurrence of earthquakes.

Around the beginning of the 20th century, geologists have known that the outer crust of the earth floats on a softer layer. But the theory of continental movements has only been widely publicized since 1960.

One of the experts who conveyed the theory of continental movement was Alfred Lothar Wegener (1880-1930). He is a weather scientist who put forward the theory of Floating and Shifting Continents. He revealed this in 1912 before an association of geologists in Frankfurt, Germany. In 1915, the theory was first revealed in the form of a book entitled Die Enstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane (Origin of Continents and Oceans). Initially the book caused controversy among geologists. The controversy subsided in the 1960s after the continental float theory became more and more adherent among scientists.

Object Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPLsogIPTw0

Wegener stated in his theory that since about 200 million years ago there was a super large continent and ocean on the surface of this earth. This giant continent is called Pangea, while the ocean area surrounding it is called Panthalasa. Very slowly, Pangea has cracks and was separated. Around 180 million years ago, the giant continent was separated into two, namely the continent on the north called Laurasia and in the south called Gondwana. Both continents are separated by a narrow path, namely the Tethys Sea. The Tethys Sea remnant is now a pathway for oil deposits around the seas in the Middle East.

Then the continent of Laurasia and Gondwana split again into smaller land and move irregularly with a moving speed of about 1-10 cm per year. In the history of the development of planet Earth, Laurasia was divided into continents which are currently located north of the equator or northern hemisphere, including Eurasia, North America, and the surrounding small islands. Gondwana is divided into continents in the southern hemisphere, including South America, Africa, Sub Continent of India, Australia, and Antarctica.

With these events, things happened as follows:

1.      Expanses of oceans and continents floating on their own.

2.      The Atlantic Ocean is becoming more widespread because the America Continent continues to move westward and there are folds of earth's crust which are a range of mountains along the west coast of North-South America.

3.      The existence of extraordinary seismic activity along the St. Andreas fault, near the west coast of the United States.

4.      The Indian Ocean boundary is increasingly pressing north. It is estimated that the Asian subcontinent / mainland India was initially rather long, but because of its movement to the north, India narrowed and drew closer to the Eurasian continent. This process produces a range of Himalayan mountains.

Continents today continue to move and can be proven by the widening of the gap found in the deep grooves of the ocean.The starting point of Wegener's theory is:

1.      There is a striking similarity between the contour lines of the east coast of the South American continent and the contour lines of the west coast of Africa, as well as the contour lines of the east coast of the North American Continent with the contour lines of the west coast of Europe. This equation proves that in fact the first two coastlines were land boundaries.

2.      The Greenland region now moves away from the European Continent at 36 meters per year, while the island of Madagascar moves away from the African Continent at 9 meters per year.

Geologists (from a combination of developed countries) conducted research at the south pole (1969-1970) at the Central Antarctic Trans, to prove Wegener's theory. From the findings, the following evidence is obtained:

1.      The area 200 million years ago was an equatorial region.

2.      Found fossils of jaws of ancient labyrinthodonts like salamanders.

As Muslims, they certainly hope that there are Muslim scientists who are able to contribute valuable discoveries to science, such as in the golden age.

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Reference:

·         Wardiyatmoko, K. 2004. Geografi SMA Jilid 1 untuk Kelas X Kurikulum 2004 Berbasis Kompetensi. Jakarta: Erlangga.

·         Utoyo, Bambang. 2009. Geografi 1 Membuka Cakrawala Dunia untuk Kelas X Sekolah Menengah Atas/Madrasah Aliyah. Jakarta: Pusat Perbukuan Departemen Pendidikan Nasional.

·         Soegimo, Dibyo and Ruswanto. 2009. Geografi: untuk SMA/MA Kelas X. Jakarta: Pusat Perbukuan Departemen Pendidikan Nasional.

·         https://www.hidayatullah.com/foto/apakah-kau-mengira-gunung-gunung-itu-diamhtml