Pangaea assembles
Every continent merges into one
See it on the timeline →In depth
Pangaea was the latest in a series of supercontinents; Rodinia and Columbia came before. Its assembly threw up mountain ranges such as the Appalachians and the Urals, and created a brutal continental climate with vast deserts at its heart. The minimal coastline per unit of land shrank shallow marine habitat, thought to have contributed to species loss. Alfred Wegener proposed continental drift as early as 1912, but was dismissed until sea-floor spreading was demonstrated in the 1960s.
For children
Continents drift slowly across Earth's surface, about as fast as your fingernails grow. Once they all drifted together into a single giant continent we call Pangaea. In theory an animal could then walk from the North Pole to the South Pole.
Connects to
Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org