Voyage of the Continents

Africa is Mother Earth. Gondwana, the first, single, landmass broke apart into today's continents, but its heart is Africa. Land of rifts, lakes and volcanoes, Africa's mineral deposits testify to its eons-old history.

Volcanic activity and climate change define Africa's "modern" history. Modern in geological terms, of course! Recently - meaning 50 million years ago - the Arabian plate snapped off the African continent and joined Southeast Asia. The Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden were born.

North America's mountain chains and huge plateaus were formed by volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and the odd ice age. Here we travel from the Canadian Shield, across the Grand Canyon and to the Rockies to understand the extraordinary geological forces at play. We even look into the future, when part of California should be an island in the Pacific!

Central America takes us back to when the world was young. A fragile line of islands linking North and South America, the islands of the Caribbean are recent apparitions on earth and may not be here to stay. The 2010 earthquake in Haiti dramatically illustrated that. This episode balances land and sea, bringing the viewer closer to how it all began.

One glance at a map of South America says it all: Andes and Amazonian basin. Two huge geological characteristics that describe how the continent came into being. The Amazon was once under the sea. As the water drained away the Andes rose up, creating some of the most spectacular landscapes in the world.

The history of Oceania is the history of the Earth as a whole. Welded to Antarctica for millions of years, Australia is today a deserted landscape that enjoys extraordinary stability. Its neighbours do not share the same luck. New Zealand is perilously located between two tectonic plates, and the volcanic islands of the Southern Pacific could explode and disappear.

The history of Asia is awash with superlatives. Along with teams of scientists, we discover the incredible volcanic phenomenon that caused the greatest extinction of all time. Asia was the theatre of the world's most violent tectonic collision, and has witnessed the birth of the Earth's highest summits.

The tectonic activity in the south of the continent extends as far as Nepal and the Tibetan plain. China is also affected and, like Japan, is exposed to daily earthquakes. The volcanism of the entire region, in Japan and in Indonesia, is both a danger and a resource, and many risk their lives to exploit it. These tremendous phenomena are the fruits of the ceaseless Voyage of the Continents.

Each impact caused cataclysms on a tremendous scale, creating a world of chaotic forms and bright colours. Over time, mountain chains that were even higher than the Himalayas sprung up in Scandinavia and Scotland, where today the great central plains lie. After millions of years of erosion, Europe became a sea floor. It has been invaded by unusual life forms, and some have modified the continent.

Scientists working in the field will provide us with an understanding of the history of our Earth, and its majestic and destructive phenomena. The birth of the Alps, the disappearance of the Mediterranean, outstanding underground areas, and imminent earthquakes are only some of the forms brought about as a result of the ceaseless Voyage of the Continents.