Talk:Supercontinent

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[edit] Mu

If it actually existed shouldn't Mu be included on this list,or at least mentioned. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.12.116.137 (talk • contribs)

Mu was unfortunately obsoleted by plate tectonics, and didn't actually exist. Also, it was hypothesized as a regular continent, not a supercontinent, since supercontinents as described here require plate tectonics to form. Darekun 01:12, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Inconsistency

The first paragraph says "The assembly of cratons and accreted terranes that form Eurasia[1] qualifies as a supercontinent today", and further down we read "Some historians call the combined land mass of Africa and Eurasia the supercontinent Africa-Eurasia, but it is not a geological supercontinent". Is Eurasia counted as a supercontinent by geologists, or is it not? It can't be both, y'know. :-) Dr Zak 01:43, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

The greatest inconsistency in the whole list is;

  • What is a supercontinent? Apparently, looking at this list, any major orogenic or rifting event brackets a "supercontinent". This is basically model driven terminology, because the authors appear to suggest that plate ectonics cannot exist without forming or destroying a supercontinent. There is no consistent standard expressed as to what constitutes a supercontinent except "something kludged together".

The second greatest are;

  • The Komaii formation. Its not a supercontinent, its a single lava event.
  • The Yilgarn Craton. In fact, most of these are "cratons" not superconinents. Or protocratons. Of course, there's a reason for this; most >500Ma rocks are in cratons. Making the leap to say that these rocks, in most cases metamorphosed, are produced on supercontinents is a different kettle of fish.

Rolinator 11:48, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

Agreed, the Komatii Formation and Yilgarn Craton don't seem to belong on this list. Unless someone objects I'll remove them in a few days.
Cephal-odd 22:45, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Ur

in the opening paragraph the article states you have to fit specific conditions to be called a supercontinent, but then under Ur it says that one could argue it was a supercontinent (presuably because it was big for its time?) which is inconsistent. Perhaps it should be shuffled down to the notes section...

[edit] List of supercontinents

Do we need a separate List of supercontinents article when most of the same lists appear in this one? We should either merge the articles or remove the lists here to the other article. Cephal-odd 16:32, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Computer Simulation of the History of Earth Formation

It would be nice to have a computer simulation of the history of supercontinents. I have seen a few maps and simulation, but they are incomplete. I would like to see one that shows the increase in size of our Earth over time through accretion of mass, and can be revolved to show the globe from all sizes at any time in history. Maybe a job for Google Earth?--Robert van der Hoff 04:39, 11 May 2007 (UTC)