Polar wander is the movement of the North and South Poles of the Earth with respect to the continents. This motion can be divided into two components: apparent polar wander, due to continental drift (the continents' movement over the mantle), and true polar wander, in which the mantle and the crust rotate together into new orientations.
Famous quotes containing the words polar and/or wander:
“In time your relatives will come to accept the idea that a career is as important to you as your family. Of course, in time the polar ice cap will melt.”
—Barbara Dale (b. 1940)
“‘O opportunity! thy guilt is great,
‘Tis thou that execut’st the traitor’s treason;
Thou set’st the wolf where he the lamb may get;
Whoever plots the sin, thou point’st the season;
‘Tis thou that spurn’st at right, at law, at reason;
And in thy shady cell, where none may spy him,
Sits Sin to seize the souls that wander by him.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)