Pangaea
- This article is about the supercontinent. For other uses, see Pangæa (disambiguation).
Pangæa (from the Greek for, "all lands") is the name Alfred Wegener used to refer to the supercontinent which existed during the Mesozoic era, before the process of plate tectonics separated the component continents. Pangæa broke up about 200 million years ago. When the continents first came together to form Pangæa, mountains were formed; some of these ranges still exist; such as the Appalachians and the Urals. The vast ocean surrounding Pangæa was Panthalassa.
The mantle under its former location is still hot and trying to rise upward. As a result, Africa sits several tens of metres higher than the other continents.
Pangæa is not believed to be the first time the continents joined together to form a single continent.
It is widely believed that the supercontinent Rodinia formed about 1100 million years ago, and broke up about 750 million years ago.
Also believed to have existed is the supercontinent Pannotia, that formed about 600 million years ago and split up about 550 million years ago.
During the Jurassic period, Pangæa broke into two parts:
