Citizendia
Your Ad Here

In geology, a supercontinent is a landmass comprising more than one continental core, or craton. Geology (from Greek γη gê, "earth" and λόγος Logos, "speech" lit Not to be confused with Land mass. A landmass is a large continuous area of land. A continent is one of several large Landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by Convention rather than any strict criteria with seven regions A craton ( Greek kratos / κρἀτος ( neut. "strength" is an old and stable part of the Continental crust that has survived The assembly of cratons and accreted terranes that form Eurasia[1] qualifies as a supercontinent today. A terrane in Geology is a fragment of crustal material formed on or broken off from one Tectonic plate and accreted — " sutured " For the superstate in George Orwell 's novel see Nations of Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Contents

History

Most commonly, paleogeographers employ the term supercontinent to refer to a single landmass consisting of all the modern continents. Palaeogeography (sometimes spelled paleogeography) is the study of what the Geography was in times past A continent is one of several large Landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by Convention rather than any strict criteria with seven regions The earliest known supercontinent was Vaalbara. Vaalbara is the Earth's theorized first Supercontinent. According to radiometric data of the encompassing Cratons that constituted Vaalbara it is believed It formed from proto-continents and was a supercontinent by 3. 1 billion years ago (3. 1 Ga). In Astronomy, Geology, and Paleontology, Gya (for Giga years ago is often used as an unit of Time to denote length of Vaalbara broke up ~2. Vaalbara is the Earth's theorized first Supercontinent. According to radiometric data of the encompassing Cratons that constituted Vaalbara it is believed 8 Ga. In Astronomy, Geology, and Paleontology, Gya (for Giga years ago is often used as an unit of Time to denote length of The supercontinent Kenorland was formed ~2. Kenorland was one of the earliest Supercontinents on Earth It is believed to have formed during the Neoarchaean Era ~2 7 Ga and then broke sometime after 2. In Astronomy, Geology, and Paleontology, Gya (for Giga years ago is often used as an unit of Time to denote length of 5 Ga into the proto-continent cratons called Laurentia, Baltica, Australia, and Kalahari. In Astronomy, Geology, and Paleontology, Gya (for Giga years ago is often used as an unit of Time to denote length of A craton ( Greek kratos / κρἀτος ( neut. "strength" is an old and stable part of the Continental crust that has survived Laurentia (also known as the North American craton) like all Craton land was created as continents moved about the surface of the Earth Baltica redirects here For the Russian beer, see Baltika Breweries Baltica is a name applied by geologists to a late- Proterozoic, The Yilgarn Craton is a large Craton which constitutes the bulk of the Western Australian land mass The Kalahari craton occupies a large portion of South Africa and consists of the Kaapvaal, the Zimbabwe craton, the Limpopo belt, and the The supercontinent Columbia formed and broke up during a period of 1. Columbia is the name of one of the Earth's oldest Supercontinents It was first proposed by J 8 to 1. 5 billion years (1. 8-1. 5 Ga) ago. In Astronomy, Geology, and Paleontology, Gya (for Giga years ago is often used as an unit of Time to denote length of

The supercontinent Rodinia broke up roughly 750 million years ago. For the Genus of Metalmark butterflies, see Rodinia (butterfly. One of the fragments included large parts of the continents now located in the southern hemisphere. Plate tectonics brought the fragments of Rodinia back together in a different configuration during the late Paleozoic era, forming the best-known supercontinent, Pangaea. The Paleozoic or Palaeozoic Era (from the Greek palaio (παλαιο "old" and zoe (ζωη "life" meaning "ancient life" Pangaea, Pangæa or Pangea (pænˈdʒiːə from παν pan, meaning entire, and Γαῖα Gaea, meaning Earth in Pangaea subsequently broke up into the northern and southern supercontinents, Laurasia and Gondwana. Laurasia (lɔˈreɪʃiə lɔˈreɪʒə was a Supercontinent that most recently existed as a part of the split of the Pangaean supercontinent in the late Mesozoic Gondwana (ɡɒnˈdwɑːnə originally Gondwanaland) was a southern Supercontinent that existed about 500 to 200 Ma ago

Modern studies have suggested that supercontinents form in cycles, coming together and breaking apart again through plate tectonics, very roughly about every 250 million years. Plate tectonics (from Greek τέκτων tektōn "builder" or "mason" describes the large scale motions of Earth 's Lithosphere The word million In standard English, the -lli- in million is pronounced with an l-sound followed by a A year (from Old English gēr) is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the Orbit of the Earth around the Sun

Geology

Supercontinents block the flow of heat from the Earth's interior, and thus cause the asthenosphere to overheat. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 The asthenosphere (from an invented Greek a + ' sthenos "without strength" and Greek word σφαίρα (sphera meaning globe is the Eventually, the lithosphere will begin to dome upward and crack, magma will then rise, and the fragments will be pushed apart. The lithosphere (IPA, from the Greek λίθος for "rocky" + σφαίρα for "sphere" is the solid outermost shell of a rocky Planet. Magma (Plurals magmas and magmata) is molten rock that sometimes forms beneath the surface of the Earth (or any other Terrestrial planet It is currently a matter of some debate as to how the supercontinents reform, whether or not plate tectonics makes them re-join after travelling around the planet, or if they move apart and then back together again.

In other areas of study such as history and geography, land masses connected with an isthmus are also considered supercontinents or just continents, such as the Americas. History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology Geography (from Greek γεωγραφία - geografia) is the study of the Earth and its lands features inhabitants and phenomena An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas A continent is one of several large Landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by Convention rather than any strict criteria with seven regions The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America Some historians call the combined land mass of Africa and Eurasia the supercontinent Afro-Eurasia. For the superstate in George Orwell 's novel see Nations of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Afro-Eurasia or less commonly Afrasia or Eurafrasia Normally it is divided at the Suez Canal into Eurasia and Africa the former of which can be subdivided

Incomplete list of supercontinents

Main article: List of supercontinents

In reverse-chronological order (stratolithic order) comprising nearly all land at the time. In reverse-chronological order (stratolithic order comprising nearly all land at the time

Notes

  1. ^ And to a lesser extent, the Americas, if taken as a whole

See also

External links

Dictionary

supercontinent

-noun

  1. a very large continent that split into smaller ones in the Earth’s geologic past.
  2. sometimes used to refer, due to their being composed of multiple continents, to one of the following modern landmasses: Eurasia, Africa-Eurasia, and sometimes the Americas. (cf. subcontinent)
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic