Was there really a supercontinent? Can that happen again?

1. Supercontinent Cycle
Copyright by Kella Randolph, B.S., M.Ed.
https://get.pxhere.com/photo/landscape-coast-nature-rock-waterfall-river-stone-travel-formation-cliff-environment-europe-stream-jungle-park-plate-landmark-iceland-tourism-terrain-ridge-body-of-water-national-parliament-geology-ravine-continent-lava-heritage-
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2. The theory of Pangea
• Pangea's existence was first proposed in 1912
by German meteorologist Alfred Wegener as a
part of his theory of continental drift. Its name
is derived from the Greek pangaia, meaning
“all the Earth.” continental drift. The land on
Earth is constantly moving.
• Story: https://www.britannica.com/www.britannica.com › place › Pangea
• Picture:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F4874
44359656891241%2F&psig=AOvVaw3KRMnQHgP_IzXdA1oAwM0z&ust=1573508238662000&
source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCLju5o7N4OUCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

3. Rodinia
The existence of Wegener’s supercontinent
Pangaea is completely accepted by geologists
today. The movements of continents explain
so much about the geological activity we see.
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/courses-images/wp-
content/uploads/sites/115/2016/05/24171421/Figure5_3_5.png

4. Was Earth really ever
like this?
• https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/courses-images/wp-
content/uploads/sites/115/2016/05/24171421/Figure5_3_5.png
But did it all begin with Pangaea? Or were
there other supercontinents that came
before? What does the future of the
continents hold?

5. Pangaea
Wegener had lots of evidence for
his continental drift hypothesis. One line of
evidence was the similarity of the mountains
on the west and east sides of the Atlantic.
Those mountains rose at convergent plate
boundaries. The continents on both sides of
the ocean (where the Atlantic is now)
smashed together to create Pangaea. The
proto-Atlantic ocean shrank as the Pacific
Ocean grew.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mFBHW6o6ds0/TKPUle8m2BI/AAAAAAAABb4/jnaf53ZVkFQ/s1600/Pangea+1.JPG
Pangaea

6. The Appalachian
mountains
The Appalachian mountains of eastern North
America formed at this convergent plate
boundary (Figure below). About 200 million
years ago, they were probably as high as the
Himalayas.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Appalachia
nLocatorMap2.png
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7236/7158830805_81f9aa544b_z.jpg
The Appalachian Mountains in New Hampshire

7. The Appalachians
along the eastern U.S.
Pangaea has been breaking apart since about
250 million years ago. Divergent plate
boundaries formed within the continents to
cause them to rift apart. The continents are
still moving apart. The Pacific is shrinking as
the Atlantic is growing. The Appalachians
(Figure below) are now on a passive margin.
The mighty mountains have weathered and
eroded to what they are today.
The Appalachians along the eastern U.S.
These mountains began when North America
and Eurasia collided as Pangaea came
together.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Appalachians_NC_BLRI9242.jpg/500px-
Appalachians_NC_BLRI9242.jpg

8. The Supercontinent
Cycle
Back before Pangaea, there were earlier
supercontinents. Rodinia existed 750 million
to 1.1 billion years ago. Columbia existed 1.5
to 1.8 billion years ago. If the continents
continue in their current directions, they will
come together to create a supercontinent on
the other side of the planet in around 200
million years.
This is known as the supercontinent cycle.
The continents smash together on opposite
side of the planet around every 500 million
years. The creation of supercontinents is
responsible for most of the geologic features
that we see. It is responsible for many
features that are long gone.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u_OJwXwxIws/T-dDrdWmlDI/AAAAAAAABsw/k0OWVpkDTXc/s1600/drift.jpg

9. Over billions of years
the continents have
moved.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Wilso
n-stages_hg-de.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Wi
lson-stages_hg-de.png

10. Going under
Image left in Spanish:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Limiteconvergente-
oceanoycontinente.png/250px-Limiteconvergente-oceanoycontinente.png
The Pacific Plate is sliding underneath the
North American Plate. The heat and
pressure has been causing rocks to melt.
That goes on to create volcanoes and a row
of mountains along the Pacific Ocean.
gifAbove in English:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Oceani
c-continental_convergence_Fig21oceancont.gif/250px-Oceanic-
continental_convergence_Fig21oceancont.

11. https://files.mtstatic.com/site_4038/1230/0/webview?Expires=1553374803&Signature=MiZxo7XioXojA9iSikt
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MJVE1IA2de~N3rG9OOI7P6bZPmtH4cpVrMm5R5iLCipWu7ASZePuPJYFyWFP5MAA_&Key-Pair-
Id=APKAJ5Y6AV4GI7A555NA
https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/62631/area14mp/cysfbpyv-1414063343.jpg

12. Different names
• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Laurasia-Gondwana.png
As the continents merged at different times
they took different shapes. So scientists have
given them names to indicate their stages.
It’s sort of like names we humans have as we
age: baby, child, teen, adult and elderly
person.

13. Have these landmasses moved back and forth?
Modern Asia Ancient Rodinia
http://www.madrimasd.org/blogs/universo/wp-
content/blogs.dir/42/files/370/o_Rodinia1%20Protolaurasia%20Wiki%20inglés.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/A
sie.svg/750px-Asie.svg.png

14. Explore More
Story and some images were adapted from
Supercontinent Cycle and Pangaea
Describes the supercontinent cycle and its
relationship to past and future plate tectonic
activity.
cK-12 Open Source text FlexBook
https://www.ck12.org/c/earth-science/supercontinent-cycle-and-
pangaea/lesson/Supercontinent-Cycle-MS-
ES/?referrer=concept_details
https://www.truthinsideofyou.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/03/Earth_after_100_Million_Years.jpg