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The continent we survive on today are moving , and over hundreds of million of years they get pulled asunder and demolish together again . Occasionally , thistectonic crustal plate - fuel process play most of the world ’s landmass together to form a massive supercontinent .
There ’s no strict definition for a supercontinent , but research worker likeJoseph Meert , a professor of geosciences at the University of Florida , say they should include around 75 % of the available landmass .
An illustration of Earth 200 million years ago as Pangaea, the last supercontinent, began to break apart.
scientist are still moot how many supercontinents have existed in Earth ’s history , but they ’re sure of at least three . Here are all of the roll in the hay supercontinents that have existed and a few good honorable mention . Live Science spoke with Meert , to check the day of the month of the supercontinents on this listing , but keep in creative thinker they ’re still only estimates .
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Columbia/Nuna
The first supercontinent , called Columbia , or Nuna , subsist from around 1.7 billion eld ago to 1.45 billion years ago in thePrecambrian period(4.6 billion to 541 million years ago ) . It is identify " Columbia " because scientist fix that the landmass connected what is now easterly India with the Columbia basalt area in what is now the U.S. , according to a 2017 work in the journalGondwana Research .
While Earth is much older than the Columbia supercontinent , scientist are n’t sure supercontinents formed before 2 billion years ago , and it ’s potential only smaller and separated landmasses existed back then , according to a 2021 review article of the supercontinent cycle publish in the journalNature Reviews Earth & Environment .
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An illustration of what Nuna looked like 1.45 billion years ago.
Rodinia
Rodinia was the 2nd supercontinent to form in the Precambrian period , coming together around a billion years ago andbreaking up around 700 million years ago . Researchers do n’t hump precisely how big Rodinia was , but North America was potential the core of the landmass , according toSmithsonian Ocean .
The continent we get laid today were unrecognisable when Rodinia live . For exercise , the Americas were merged while Asia and Africa were broken up into piece . Rodinia was still around when the first animals evolved around 800 million twelvemonth ago .
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An illustration of what Nuna looked like 1.45 billion years ago.
Pangaea
The most late supercontinent , Pangaea , organize around 320 million years ago and broke up around 175 million old age ago . Geophysicist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener first proposed the existence of Pangaea and the concept of supercontinents in 1912 after notice that the shoreline of Africa and South America seemingly fit together like giant jigsaw puzzle opus . His hypothesis that continents move , namedcontinental drift , was rejected for tenner until scientist corroborate some of his melodic theme with the mod theory of scale plate tectonics , which explain Earth ’s crust is break up into plates that move across the mantle .
The name " Pangaea '' comes from Ancient Hellenic Word meaning " all Earth . " However , Pangaea never included all of Earth ’s land mass . For example , modern - day north and southChinawere independent island fall apart to the east of Pangaea throughout the Carboniferous period ( 359 million to 299 million age ago ) .
Pangaea split when the Central Atlantic Ocean open , and Gondwana ( what are now Africa , South America , India and most of Antarctica and Australia ) separated from Laurasia ( modern - mean solar day Eurasia and North America ) . The two land mass then further separate apart and eventually formed the seven Continent we hold out on today .
An illustration of the Rodinia supercontinent.
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Honorable mentions
Gondwana and Pannotia
Gondwana formed around 530 million years ago and was the bombastic landmass on Earth for more than 200 million years , before becoming part of Pangaea , but the panel is still out on whether it was a supercontinent . Gondwana brought together around 64 % of today ’s landmass , according to a 2013 study publish in the journalGondwana Research . Pannotia is anotherdebated supercontinent , which may have briefly exist around 560 million years ago , combining parts of Gondwana , North America and Northern Europe .
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Amasia and Pangaea Ultima
scientist consider that supercontinents make on a oscillation every several hundred million years or so , and we should expect another one in around 250 million age . Researchers have purport a fewdifferent scenariosfor how the next supercontinent will form . One of these hypothesizes that the Americas and Asia gallery northward and meld as the Arctic Ocean closes , signify many of Earth ’s future inhabitants could live on " Amasia . " Another selection is Pangaea reform , with the Atlantic Ocean mop up and the Americas , Europe and Africa coming together as " Pangaea Ultima . "
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An illustration of what the supercontinent Pangaea would have looked like when today’s continents were smushed together.
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An illustration of Gondwana.
An illustration of how the next supercontinent, Amasia, will form.
