Project 597 - Amalgamation and breakup Pangaea: The Type Example
of the Supercontinent Cycle  There is widespread acceptance that
between 300 and 200 million years ago, all of the Earth’s
continental land masses were assembled into a giant
supercontinent, Pangæa, surrounded by a superocean, Panthalassa.
However, different configurations have been proposed, e.g.
Pangæa A and B. The breakup of Pangæa over the last 200 million
years resulted in the formation of new oceans (such as the
Atlantic, Indian and Southern) between the dispersing
continental fragments. For the past 25 years, however, evidence
has been amassing that Pangæa was only the latest in a series of
supercontinents that assembled and dispersed over the last 2.5
billion years. Although the mechanisms responsible are
controversial, many geoscientists agree that repeated cycles of
supercontinent amalgamation and dispersal have not just taken
place, but have had a profound effect on the evolution of the
Earth’s crust, atmosphere, climate, and life.  T