List of supercontinents
Encyclopedia
This is a list of supercontinents
. The list is written in reverse-chronological order (stratolithic order) comprising nearly all land at the time.
-fossil evidence indicates intermittent existence from ~55 mya, now dependent on sea level
Supercontinent
In geology, a supercontinent is a landmass comprising more than one continental core, or craton. The assembly of cratons and accreted terranes that form Eurasia qualifies as a supercontinent today.-History:...
. The list is written in reverse-chronological order (stratolithic order) comprising nearly all land at the time.
Present-day
- Afro-EurasiaAfro-EurasiaAfro-Eurasia or less commonly Afrasia or Eurafrasia is the term used to describe the largest landmass on earth. It may be defined as a supercontinent, consisting of Africa and Eurasia...
(~ 5 mya — present-day) - AmericaAmericasThe Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
(~ 15 mya — present-day) - EurasiaEurasiaEurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
(~ 60 mya — 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-AmericaAfro-Eurasia-AmericaAfro-Eurasia-America is a continuous landmass that exists during periods of low sea level induced by ice ages, and comprises about 85% of the Earth's land area when present in the current era. It consists of the supercontinents of Afro-Eurasia, and the Americas, which are in turn comprise Africa...
(~ 5 mya — end of last glacial maximumLast Glacial MaximumThe Last Glacial Maximum refers to a period in the Earth's climate history when ice sheets were at their maximum extension, between 26,500 and 19,000–20,000 years ago, marking the peak of the last glacial period. During this time, vast ice sheets covered much of North America, northern Europe and...
)
-fossil evidence indicates intermittent existence from ~55 mya, now dependent on sea level
Prehistoricals
- GondwanaGondwanaIn paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...
(~300–~30 million years ago) - LaurasiaLaurasiaIn paleogeography, Laurasia was the northernmost of two supercontinents that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from approximately...
(~300–~60 million years ago) - PangaeaPangaeaPangaea, Pangæa, or Pangea is hypothesized as a supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configuration....
(~300–~180 million years ago) - EuramericaEuramericaEuramerica was a minor supercontinent created in the Devonian as the result of a collision between the Laurentian, Baltica, and Avalonia cratons .300 million years ago in the Late Carboniferous tropical rainforests lay over the equator of Euramerica...
(~300 million years ago) - Oldredia (~418–~380 million years ago)
- PannotiaPannotiaPannotia, first described by Ian W. D. Dalziel in 1997, is a hypothetical supercontinent that existed from the Pan-African orogeny about six hundred million years ago to the end of the Precambrian about five hundred and fifty million years ago. It is also known as the Vendian supercontinent...
, also called Vendian (~600–~540 million years ago) - RodiniaRodiniaIn geology, Rodinia is the name of a supercontinent, a continent which contained most or all of Earth's landmass. According to plate tectonic reconstructions, Rodinia existed between 1.1 billion and 750 million years ago, in the Neoproterozoic era...
(~1.1 Ga–~750 million years ago) - ColumbiaColumbia (supercontinent)Columbia, also known as Nuna and Hudsonland, was one of Earth's oldest supercontinents. It was first proposed by J.J.W. Rogers and M. Santosh and is thought to have existed approximately 1.8 to 1.5 billion years ago in the Paleoproterozoic Era. Zhao et al...
, also called Nuna (~1.8–1.5 Ga ago) - NenaNena (supercontinent)Nena was an ancient minor supercontinent that consisted of the cratons of Arctica, Baltica, and East Antarctica. Forming about 1.8 billion years ago, the continent was part of the global supercontinent, Columbia. Nena is an acronym that derives from Northern Europe and North...
(~1.8 Ga) - KenorlandKenorlandKenorland was one of the earliest supercontinents on Earth. It is believed to have formed during the Neoarchaean Era ~2.7 billion years ago by the accretion of Neoarchaean cratons and the formation of new continental crust...
(~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. - UrUr (continent)Ur was a supercontinent that formed in the early Archean eon; the oldest continent on Earth, half a billion years older than Arctica. Ur joined with the continents Nena and Atlantica about to form the supercontinent Rodinia...
(~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 AustraliaAustralia (continent)Australia is the world's smallest continent, comprising the mainland of Australia and proximate islands including Tasmania, New Guinea, the Aru Islands and Raja Ampat Islands...
is today. Still, an older rock formation now located in Greenland dates back from HadeanHadeanThe Hadean is the geologic eon before the Archean. It started with the formation of the Earth about 4.7 Ga and ended roughly 3.8 Ga, though the latter date varies according to different sources. The name "Hadean" derives from Hades, Greek for "Underworld", referring to the "hellish"...
times. - VaalbaraVaalbaraVaalbara is theorized to be Earth's first supercontinent, beginning its formation about , completing its formation by about and breaking up by . The name Vaalbara is derived from the South African Kaapvaal craton and the West Australian Pilbara craton...
(~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.