- By John Eagles
- 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".[1]
References
- ↑ A mantle plume is an upwelling of abnormally hot rock within the Earth's mantle.