The Motes of Middle-earth (Facts and observations)

Earthmotes

An earthmote is a piece of land that, due to the influence of magic, now floats above the earth. It is believed that the boundries between different types of magic have either charged the landscape to the point of breaking, or the borders between two areas of significant power haved create chaotic and dangerous barriers. Witnesses are few since this type of event is extrememly rare; occuring only a couple of times a decade.

Ley lines; earths veins of power, can also have the primal forces rip open the very ground raising earthmotes from different areas on Middle-Earth.

Description
Each earthmote is unique in size, shape and altitude. Some are no bigger than chunks of earth, while others are almost as big as a mountain or an island. Some hover no more than a few meters above ground, while others float in the sky, alongside the clouds. A few earthmotes move across the lands, either in programmed routes or erratically, but most of them are stationary, hovering near an earthbound feature. Disruptions, whether natural or magical, does not have any effects in an earthmote's ability to float.
Almost all earthmotes can support life, and their natural flora mirror that of the landscape below them, allowing some earthmotes to be settled by those who have the resources to do such a thing. Likewise, some earthmotes have natural portals to the Elemental Plane of Water, allowing them to create never-ending water sources.

Water magic:
Some of the strongest/most powerful type of magic. As water flows through the continents and also along the ley lines, even the guardians of Middle-earth, the archmages, recognize the awesome magical spellpower found within all practices of water magic. Water magic is a combination of many factors. Both creation and destruction.

Some spellcasters were able to master rituals that allowed them to create earthmotes by magically raising chunks of earth from the ground, or to control the movements of existing ones. Some say that water magic is one of the possible ways to manipulate earthmotes.