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How North America got its shape - Peter J. Haproff

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TEDEd Animation

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North America didn’t always have its familiar shape, nor its famed mountains, canyons, and plains: all of that was once contained in an unrecognizable mass, buried deep in Rodinia, a huge supercontinent that lay on the face of the Earth. Peter J. Haproff explains how it took millions of years and some incredible plate tectonics to forge the continent we know today.

At approximately what rate is the San Andreas fault currently moving per year?

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Meet The Creators

  • Educator Peter J. Haproff
  • Script Editor Emma Bryce
  • Director Hernando Bahamon
  • Art Director Andrés Landazábal
  • Composer Manuel Borda
  • Compositor Ricardo Avila
  • Animator Miguel Otálora
  • Narrator Addison Anderson

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