List of supercontinents
This is a list of supercontinents. The list is written in reverse-chronological order (stratolithic order) comprising nearly all land at the time.
Present-day
Beringia–dependent
- Eurasia–North America (~ 55 mya — end of last glacial maximum)
- Eurasia–America (North and South) (~ 15 mya — end of last glacial maximum)
- Afro–Eurasia–America (~ 5 mya — end of last glacial maximum) –fossil evidence indicates intermittent existence from ~55 mya, now dependent on sea level.
Prehistoricals
- Gondwana (~300–~30 million years ago)
- Laurasia (~300–~60 million years ago)
- Pangaea (~300–~180 million years ago)
- Euramerica (~300 million years ago)
- Oldredia (~418–~380 million years ago)
- Pannotia, also called Vendian (~600–~540 million years ago)
- Rodinia (~1.1 Ga–~750 million years ago)
- Columbia, also called Nuna (~1.8–1.5 Ga ago)
- Nena (~1.8 Ga)
- Kenorland (~2.7 Ga ago). Neoarchean sanukitoid cratons and new continental crust formed Kenorland. Protracted tectonic magna plume rifting occurred 2.48 to 2.45 Ga and this contributed to the Paleoproterozoic glacial events in 2.45 to 2.22 Ga. Final breakup occurred ~2.1 Ga.
- Ur (~3 Ga ago). Classified as the earliest known landmass. Ur, however, was probably the largest, perhaps even the only continent three billion years ago. While probably not a supercontinent, one can argue that Ur was a supercontinent for its time, even if it was smaller than Australia is today. Still, an older rock formation now located in Greenland dates back from Hadean times.
- Vaalbara (~3.6 Ga ago). Evidence is the Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia and the worldwide Archean greenstone belts that were subsequently spread out across Gondwana and Laurasia.
Possible future
External links
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See also Regions of the world
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