The plate tectonics
Due to plate tectonics, Europe and North America are currently moving apart at a rate of approximately 3 cm/year. Assuming that this rate has been constant, calculate how long it has taken them to reach their current separation of ~4500 km. Assume, instead, that the Earth were only 5,000 years old, and that the continents began as one, what would the average separation rate need to be to reach their current separation distance?
