How do continents and oceans work?

Continents are large land masses that sit on tectonic plates, which float on the semi-fluid mantle layer of the Earth. Oceans, on the other hand, are vast bodies of water that cover a majority of the Earth's surface. The Earth's lithosphere is divided into several large and small tectonic plates that are in constant motion, causing the continents to drift and creating ocean basins between them.