Written in SCIENCE he
The Land It is divided into five large continents in which we are more than 8 billion people. However, millions of years ago, there were the so-called supercontinents, being Pangea the best known. However, before its formation there were others of smaller dimensions, but with particular characteristics, which also left their mark and which we will talk about below.
Before mentioning the supercontinents What was on the planet, we will tell you what is a supercontinent.
A supercontinent It is a massive land mass that was formed millions of years ago. The cause of these large masses is related to the movements of the crust, which cause huge terrestrial blocks to form that remain stable for long periods of time so that, many years later, they separate and join again, but with a distribution and different measurements.
The time it takes to form the supercontinents It is variable; however, the scientific community indicates that it can occur every 300 or 500 million years, a time that will depend, among other things, on the sliding of tectonic plates as a result of the internal heat of the Earth, as well as on the pressure exerted between the materials that make them up
How many supercontinents existed on Earth?
According to the article entitled “The supercontinents of the Earth”, published by the Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo, they are 9 supercontinents that have existed in Land and are next:
- Vaalbará: name of the first supercontinent that is believed to have existed on Earth, 3.8 billion years ago. Its identification is based on geochronological and paleomagnetic studies made between the two cratons c/ Archeans (protocontinents) Kaapvaal and the Pilbara.
- Ur: it was formed about 3,000 million years ago in the Archean Eon and is considered a supercontinent, despite the fact that its dimensions were probably smaller than those of present-day Australia, which lasted about 2,900 million years, when it would have formed. disintegrated and gone. This continent remained stable for hundreds of millions of years and continued to grow in extent until the birth of the supercontinent Kenorland.
- Kenorland: It is believed that it was formed during the Neoarchaic era, about 2.7 billion years ago. It was made up of, among others, the Laurentia (the core of present-day North America and Greenland), Wyoming, Baltica (the core of present-day Scandinavia and Baltic), Kola (northwestern Russia), Amazonia, São Francisco, and Rio cratons. de la Plata (currently located in South America), part of Western Australia Kalahari (currently located in southern Africa), West Africa, the Congo and West Nile (north-central Africa), Yangtze (South China) and present-day Antarctica, so it is believed that it was much larger (in extent) than Ur.
- Nena: a supercontinent that arose approximately 1.8 billion years ago, encompassing what is now Siberia, the Baltic Sea, Greenland, and North America. It joined Atlántica and Ur, to later form Rodinia.
- Atlantic: arose 1.8 billion years ago and became part of the supercontinent Columbia, from which it separated 300 million years later. 1.1 billion years ago it joined Nena and Ur.
- Columbia: formed 2,000 million years ago. Paleomagnetic data estimate that this supercontinent would be around 12,900 kilometers from north to south, and another 4,800 kilometers at its widest part. Its fragmentation began 1.6 billion years ago and ended 1.2 billion years ago.
- Rodinia: formed 1.3 billion years ago from three or four pre-existing continents. It began to separate approximately 800 million years ago due to magmatic movements in the earth’s crust and strong volcanic activity. Rodina was made up of 8 continents, which later joined to make way for Pannotia.
- Pannotia: existed 600 million years ago and disintegrated 550 million years ago at the end of the Precambrian.
- Pangea: existed at the end of the Paleozoic era, that is, between 542 million years and 250 million years before our era, and at the beginning of the Mesozoic. Its fragmentation process gave rise to two continents: Gondwana, to the west, and Laurasia, to the north.
Although so far there are only five continents visible on the Landscientists have predicted that in a few million years a new one known as Amasia could emerge, supercontinent that could cause the closure of the Pacific Ocean due to its dimensions.
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