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The Changing Face of Earth This composite image clearly shows how our planet's surface is divided into plates that continually slide over, under, and past one another, remaking Earth's face. Here the rift zones, where new crustal material flows up from Earth's interior, are indicated in bright yellow. New crust forming along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (right) is pushing Africa and South America apart. The volcanic Galápagos Islands are products of the East Pacific Rise (left), marked by fractures in the ocean floor. Image courtesy of Peter W. Sloss, National Geophysical Data Center