Before Pangaea — What? — Science News, September 30, 1972
The continents as we all know them resulted when the protocontinent Pangaea broke aside and its fragments made the lengthy sluggish journey to their current positions. The course of took about 200 million years. But the Earth’s crust is an estimated 4.5 billion years previous.… [Scientists are exploring] the perplexing problem of what went on in the course of the billions of years earlier than Pangaea went to items.
Update
The continents have an on-again, off-again relationship that has existed since nicely earlier than Pangaea, fossil and rock proof exhibits. Most scientists agree that the earliest identified supercontinent, known as Nuna, shaped round 1.5 billion years in the past. It broke aside and reunited because the supercontinent Rodinia about 1 billion years in the past. A 3rd supercontinent known as Pannotia could have shaped roughly 600 million years in the past close to the South Pole, however its existence is debated. Today, scientists are predicting how continents will merge sooner or later. A supercontinent dubbed Amasia may type 250 million years from now because the continents drift towards the North Pole (SN: 1/21/17, p. 18).
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Citations
D.A.D Evans. Pannotia below prosecution. Geological Society, London, Special Publications. Vol. 503, October 13, 2020, p. 63. doi: 10.1144/SP503-2020-182.J.B. Murphy et al. Pannotia: in defence of its existence and geodynamic significance. Geological Society, London, Special Publications. Vol. 503, August 27, 2020, p. 13. doi: 10.1144/SP503-2020-96.H.S. Davies, J.A. Mattias Green and J.C. Duarte. Back to the long run: Testing completely different situations for the following supercontinent gathering. Global and Planetary Change. Vol. 169, October 2018, p. 133. doi: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2018.07.015.L.A. Purrett. Before Pangaea — What? Science News. Vol 102. September 30, 1972, p. 220.
Erin I. Garcia de Jesus is a employees author at Science News. She holds a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Washington and a grasp’s in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.