Pangea was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from earlier continental units approximately 335 million years ago, and began to break apart about 175 million years ago. The name Pangea is derived from Ancient Greek pan (πᾶν, “all, entire”) and Gaia (Γαῖα, “Earth”), translating to “all-land” or “the Earth”.
The concept of a supercontinent has been proposed several times throughout history, with Pangea being the most well-known example. The idea gained traction in the early 20th century after the theory of plate tectonics was developed. Plate tectonics explains how large pieces of Earth’s lithosphere move around on the planet’s surface. By studying seismic activity and fossils found in different areas, scientists were able to piece together a rough map of how Pangea looked before it broke apart.
Pangea was not uniform in composition; rather, it was made up of several different types of crustal material. The eastern half consisted mostly of ancient continental crust that had undergone little change since its formation billions of years ago. The western half contained significant amounts of newly formed oceanic crust, as well as some older continental crust that had been recycled back into the mantle by subduction zones.
During its lifetime, Pangea went through several periods of growth and contraction. At its peak size, approximately 250 million years ago, it stretched from pole to pole and covered almost one-third of Earth’s surface. It began breaking apart soon afterwards due to continued plate tectonic activity beneath its surface.
The breakup of Pangea resulted in the formation of today’s continents and oceans; over time, these have continued to drift apart from one another until they reached their present-day positions