Plate TectonicIn the northern North Atlantic the ocean water is cold and salty and it sinks because its greater density. It flows southward at a deep level in the ocean. At low latitudes it rises up toward the surface as it is forced above the even denser Antarctic Bottom Water. Water from low altitudes flows north at the ocean surface to replace the sinking water. As it moves north it loses heat. Plate tectonics is the study of the movement and interaction of the earths lithospheric plates. A million years ago all the earths continents were welded together. It was eventually rifted apart into several large pieces. Antarctica moved close enough to the south pole to form ice sheets. The North American and Eurasion ice sheets are melted away completely. In Antarctica there’s not enough continental land area at high altitudes for large continental glaciers to form. Plate tectonics might cause global climate to warm.
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