Pangaea

Pangaea, often spelled “Pangea,” was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras, assembling from earlier continental units approximately 335 million years ago, and beginning to break apart about 175 million years ago. The name Pangaea comes from Ancient Greek, meaning “all lands” or “all the Earth,” reflecting the way this massive landmass once combined most of the Earth’s continental blocks into a single entity.

This supercontinent played a crucial role in the distribution of species, the formation of coal beds, and the patterns of climate across the Earth. When Pangaea existed, it significantly affected the planet’s climate and its ocean circulation patterns. The interior of this vast landmass was likely very dry, with large deserts, because the interior regions were far from the oceans and their moisture. The climate variations across Pangaea were extreme, which influenced the evolution and distribution of plant and animal species.

The breakup of Pangaea led to the formation of the Atlantic Ocean and contributed to the separation of the continents into their current configurations. This breakup was driven by tectonic forces and the movement of the Earth’s plates, a process that continues to shape the Earth’s surface today. The separation of the continents has had a profound impact on the evolution of life on Earth by isolating populations of species, leading to a diversification and evolution of distinct species on different continents.

The study of Pangaea and its breakup has been essential in developing the theory of plate tectonics, which explains the movement of the Earth’s lithospheric plates and the geological phenomena that result from this movement, including earthquakes, volcanic activity, and the formation of mountain ranges. Fossil evidence, geological formations that span multiple continents, and the matching coastlines of continents across the Atlantic Ocean are among the pieces of evidence that supported the hypothesis of Pangaea’s existence and have helped scientists reconstruct the past configurations of the Earth’s continents.