To complete this activity, download and print the Student Question Sheet.

Believe it or not, right now, no matter if you’re standing, sitting, or lying down, YOU ARE MOVING! Not only is our planet spinning in space, but the land beneath you is drifting very, very slowly as it floats on a molten mantle at the center of the Earth.

In Utah, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) is moving westward a few centimeters per year – perhaps about the length of your thumb. (The Monument's present location is marked by a red square on the Palemap (1) above). This tiny motion may seem insignificant until you consider that this has been happening continuously for billions of years. The face of planet Earth has truly been reshaped throughout geologic time. You might say the Old Gal has had an extreme makeover!

For more paleogeographic maps of the Earth today, with emphasis on North America and the Southwest, check out these sites from the Department of Geology at Northern Arizona University.

• Paleogeography and Geologic Evolution of North America
• Global Paleogeographic Views of Earth’s History - Late Precambrian to Present

(1) Plate tectonic maps and Continental drift animations by C.R. Scotese, PALEOMAP Project