Most schoolchildren learn that Earth's seasons come from its tilted axis. But that same tilt has a subtler effect: it makes the apparent position of the continents shift as the year progresses. The tilt stays fixed in space while Earth travels around the sun, so different parts of the planet lean toward or away from the sun at different times, altering how landmasses appear from a given vantage point.
The shift is only apparent, not real—the continents themselves are not moving in this seasonal pattern. Instead, the changing angle of sunlight and the observer's perspective create the illusion of drifting landmasses. The effect is a direct consequence of the same geometry that produces summer and winter.
That geometry is ancient. Scientists think the substantial tilt is the result of a massive collision with a planetary body called Theia about 4.5 billion years ago. That impact is also believed to have formed the Moon, tying the seasonal appearance of the continents to one of the most violent events in Earth's early history.