Supercontinent

By John Eagles

Pangaea (230 million years ago) was the last supercontinent

Wikipedia: Supercontinent

In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of the Earth's continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass. The definition of a supercontinent can be ambiguous. Sometimes a clustering of nearly all continents is meant, sometimes a supercontinent is also seen as one of two big continents that existed simultaneously.

Supercontinents have assembled and dispersed multiple times in the past.

The causes of supercontinent assembly and dispersal are thought to be driven by processes in the mantle. Approximately 660 km into the mantle, a discontinuity occurs, affecting the surface crust through processes like plumes and "superplumes".