Compared with the intense mountain building and active volcanic activity of the Late Paleozoic, Mesozoic tectonic deformations can be characterized as relatively mild. But already in the Triassic, giant faults began to cut through the earth's crust, mainly at the junction of the Laurasian and Gondwana blocks. Along these cracks, which gradually filled with water, basalt lavas poured out, and in some places strong volcanic eruptions also occurred.
Over time, the relief of the surface of our planet became more and more rugged. Separate faults, merging with each other, soon formed a single branched group of troughs framed by blocky ridges. Some of the inner regions of the Pangea supercontinent turned into an extended system of continental rifts, where large and small lake reservoirs arose. Two such major continental rift systems have developed. One of them extended from the region of the modern Gulf of Mexico along the Appalachian Mountains, which by that time had already been largely cut off by erosion, and developed towards the huge Tethys ocean, which was deeply wedged into the Pangea supercontinent in the east. “The rift world system is a set of large discontinuous tectonic structures of the earth's crust (rifts), forming a single system on the surface of the Earth. Rifts are confined to mid-ocean ridges, stretching from the central regions of the Arctic Ocean along the axis Atlantic Ocean and further across the Indian Ocean to the eastern part Pacific Ocean more than 60 thousand km” (TSB).
Another system of continental rifts, in turn, was formed in the southern Gondvan part of Pangea. Thus, these systems of continental rifts marked the directions of the main breaks that led to the division of Pangea into the Laurasian and Gondwana continental blocks during the Mesozoic era. It is assumed that the development of continental rifts continued on our planet for several tens of millions of years.
It is impossible to say exactly when the complete collapse of the Pangea supercontinent took place and at what time the first sections with oceanic crust arose on the site of terrestrial rifts. Modern research, including the use of deep-sea drilling in the North Atlantic, indicate that the age of the most ancient sections of the crust with a typical oceanic structure does not exceed approximately 160–180 Ma, which corresponds to the Late Jurassic period. This may mean that the process of the split of Pangea took an extremely long time, about 80-100 million years. The collapse of the giant supercontinent ended with the emergence of the proto-oceanic depression of the Central Atlantic, which separated the African-South American ledge of Gondwana from the North American block, which at that time was still connected with Eurasia in the strip from Greenland to the British Isles.
The collapse of the supercontinent Pangea was not limited to a simple split into the continents of Gondwana and Laurasia. These huge continental fragments of Pangea, in turn, began to break into separate blocks. Along the resulting faults between the diverging continents of the earth's crust in southern hemisphere extended deep depressions were formed, which later will become our modern oceans. Oceanic crust is a type of earth's crust found in the oceans, formed at mid-ocean ridges. The oceanic crust differs from the continental crust in its basalt composition and lesser thickness. Ancient fragments of the oceanic crust that have been preserved in folding on the continents are called ophiolites. 
Large quantities of basalt lavas poured out to the surface along these deep faults. Nowadays, their frozen integuments have become known as traps. In particular, in Siberia and on the Hindustan Peninsula, traps occupy areas of thousands of square kilometers, and the thickness of trap covers in some places exceeds more than two kilometers.
During the Triassic period, the Chinese continental platform finally finally joined Eurasia. In the space that arose between the diverging continents of Laurasia and Gondwana, a new ocean appeared, which narrowed strongly in the west and, conversely, expanded in the east. Within the ocean there were two branches of the mid-ocean ridges: the northern one covered the Alps, the Carpathians, the Balkans, the Lesser Caucasus and Elbrus, and the southern one - the Apennines, Dinarides, Anatolia and southern Iran.
In the ocean itself there were several fragments of Pangea, the largest of which were the Italian, Rhodope and Iranian continents. The presence of marine deposits in East Africa and Madagascar indicates the beginning of formation in the Triassic and Jurassic periods of the Indian Ocean. Huge northern mainland Laurasia gradually also began to split, giant faults passed along it from north to south, dividing the future continents - North America and Eurasia. The Triassic period of the Mesozoic as a whole is characterized by the largest regression of the sea, the most significant in the entire history of the earth's crust. In the first half of the Triassic period, a high position of continental platforms and a minimum for the entire mesozoic era distribution of the seas on the planet.
But already in the Middle and Late Triassic, subsidence along deep faults of vast areas of ancient and young platforms began to occur. This process was accompanied by intense trap volcanism. At the very beginning of the Jurassic period, a significant part of the continents was still dry land, and the sea covered only about 18% of their area. Nevertheless, towards the end of the Jurassic period, the expansion of sea basins occurs, the central European part of Laurasia, East Africa, Madagascar, Western Australia and other parts of the Gondwana mainland are below sea level. The presence of marine Jurassic deposits around the modern Indian Ocean testifies in favor of the fact that the African, Hindustan and Australian platforms were apparently separated by a vast water basin.
With the beginning of the Jurassic period, the processes of mountain building on the planet gradually subside. At the same time, the most powerful outburst of granitoid magmatism, confined to the Pacific mobile belt, occurred in the Late Jurassic and the beginning of the Cretaceous.
Large batholiths are discovered today in the Verkhoyansk-Chukotka and Mongolian-Okhotsk regions East Asia, Cordillera and Andes of Western America. It was at the turn of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods that the Laurasian and Gondwana blocks finally parted, and the Pangea supercontinent actually ceased to exist.
According to the ideas modern science, 250 million years ago on our planet there was a single, huge mainland, called Pangea. After 50 million years, the parent continent split into two: Laurasia and Gondwana. Somewhat later, of course, according to purely geological concepts, operating on periods of millions of years, Laurasia and Gondwana were divided into Eurasia, connected to North America, and Africa, connected to South America. Gondwana, on the other hand, allowed two huge geological shields to break away from itself, which later became modern Australia and Antarctica. What kind of cataclysm happened in ancient times? Some scientists believe that it was caused by the movement of underground magma flows that tore Pangea in two. Others tend to believe that such a cataclysm was the collision of our planet with a huge comet!
“The researchers who have reconstructed the past believe,” writes the British expert on pra-civilizations Milton Rothman, “that the inhabitants of Taproban knew about the impending catastrophe. They discovered in time the fateful guest from the Cosmos approaching the planet. There is no doubt that the scientists of Taproban had sufficient knowledge of mathematics, astronomy and geology to understand that their civilization was facing an imminent and horrific death. The impending catastrophe simply defied description, and the same scientists could perfectly foresee its consequences - the death of a significant part of the biosphere and the rejection of the surviving humanity almost to the starting point in the development of civilization. For Taproban was at that time the only cultural center of the planet ... "
Here it must be clarified that we are talking about events that are at least tens or even hundreds of millions of years away from our time. Many archaeological and paleontological finds are forcing scientists to reconsider their views on the age of mankind. During the XIX - XX centuries. many discoveries were made, which were dubbed NIO (unidentified fossil objects). All of them are clearly artificial in origin, and the age of the most ancient is up to 250 million years. Perhaps, in that distant era, the history of Taproban or some other more ancient civilization, whose successor was Taproban. So how did HIS story end? “The saddest thing,” Rothman continues, “is that there was practically no chance of avoiding the consequences of the disaster. Rather, the chances were, but almost equal to zero. I think it could look like this: - It is necessary to build large, stable ships with capacious holds and go far out to sea, as far as possible from the comet's collision point with the Earth, - said scientists and experienced sailors. - Then there is a chance to save part of the population, technology and science.
Swimming into the unknown? To the savages?! Is there any land there? - for certain objected many.
We do not know, but there is simply no other way out. And we can civilize the savages.
great flood
Now let's pay attention to the following fact: in almost all, without exception, the most ancient legends of different peoples inhabiting our planet - from the islands of Japan and the jungles of India to the hot deserts of Arabia, the mountains and prairies of America - there are always legends about the GREAT FLOOD that happened in time immemorial.
US geophysicist Dr. Randy James is confident that this epoch-making cataclysm happened long before it was written. Old Testament and other ancient annals of human civilization. All this is just an echo of the history of the most ancient people, the memory of which was preserved not only by the caste of Egyptian priests.
R. James writes: “Imagine how dozens and even hundreds of Noah's arks sail from the shores of an unknown land, rushing in different directions. People of the same nation sailed away never to meet again, or if they did meet, then through the centuries ... "
Perfectly! This means that there is no longer any doubt that the Sumerian, Babylonian, Indian and other historical written and oral epic monuments of almost all ancient cultures conveyed to us invaluable information about the universal cataclysm that really happened in the memory of ancient mankind. The only and significant amendment in this story is the time of the catastrophe - it is not tens of thousands of years old, but hundreds of millions...
Where did the gods come from?
But that's not all! Previously, many researchers, carried away by the constant search for evidence of the actual flooding of vast territories in antiquity, completely ignored other, extremely curious information contained in the same Sumerian, Babylonian, Indian, ancient Egyptian and other monuments. And in all of them it was very clearly stated: after the end of the flood from the SOUTH, good gods came to the people, mired in terrifying ignorance, and brought the light of knowledge and craft! They taught people counting, writing, the beginnings of astronomy, many crafts and even various arts. And here we meet the same motif: in all the monuments we are talking about GODS WHO COME FROM THE SOUTH. And most importantly, according to archeology, the development of crafts, the acquisition of fairly advanced knowledge in different fields of science occurred on different continents, in different places at about the same time. However, then different peoples found their own ways. What is it - the gods gave them freedom of development, not forcing them to follow their own path, or ... the "gods" turned out to be mortal, and in the future people had to rely entirely on themselves? Many historians, in particular Clyde Cohen from the United States, believe that the role of good gods, who carefully warned people in advance about the coming flood and brought them the necessary knowledge after a terrible cataclysm, was played by representatives of the highly developed civilization of Taprobana, who managed to survive the catastrophe. Indeed, it is always stated that the gods came from the SOUTH, from the side of the OCEAN, just from where Taproban once was.
By the way, a number of prominent scientists believe that it was with the appearance on the banks of the Nile of people from Taproban (and not Atlantis, as others believe) that the rapid development of Ancient Egypt, similar to a rapid rise, begins. For a surprisingly short time by historical standards, Egypt, as if by a wave magic wand, has turned from a poor tribal society with wretched reed huts and primitive knowledge, into a huge powerful state with stone palaces, pharaohs on thrones, pyramids, a formidable army, writing, officials, developed crafts and arts.
And, what is very important, - a caste of the chosen ones - priests who possessed many secret knowledge, which have already been mentioned above. They subsequently taught their people many sciences, without which construction, travel, state and army management are impossible. AT Ancient Egypt there were already many signs of modern states: their own police, customs service, a clear tax collection system, a code of laws, judicial bodies, a system of punishments, and similar state attributes.
Apparently, the natives of Taproban, who lost their homeland forever, found in Ancient Egypt the best reception and the most exemplary and diligent students who tried to learn from their teachers everything that was possible. Isn't it true - the legend about the death of the mysterious pra-civilization Taprobana surprisingly resembles the famous legends about Atlantis? Isn't it her common version that the inquisitive Greeks heard from the cunning Egyptian priests?
It is quite possible that Taproban and Atlantis, covered with many legends and traditions, are one and the same. Then one should look for traces of pra-civilization not at all in the Atlantic, but in Indian Ocean, somewhere in the unknown depths of the sea, south of the modern island of Sri Lanka?
And obviously, it will take a long time to deal with the chronology. It is absolutely clear that if we move the history of Taproban 200 million years back into the depths of centuries, then we will have to admit that the memory of the peoples about the Great Flood and Noah's Ark cannot be related to the Taprobans. The remnants of this people could not pass on their knowledge to the barbarian peoples, who later became the teachers of our civilization. For many millions of years, the memory of this people would be erased. Richard de Witt, an esoteric researcher from the Netherlands, is convinced that we should talk about a chain of civilizations wiped off the face of the Earth by natural disasters, cometary shells from the depths of the Universe, as a result of degradation and conquest by barbarians, burned in the crucible of atomic, and perhaps stellar wars.....
http://forums.khalapyan.com/index.php?showtopic=119
In the picture above, you can see how Pangea could look like with the existing borders of countries.
Pangea ("all-earth") is a supercontinent that existed at the end of the Paleozoic and the beginning of the Mesozoic and united almost the entire land of the Earth. The name was proposed by Alfred Wegener.
In the process of the formation of Pangea from more ancient continents, mountain systems arose at the places of their collision. Some of them have existed until our time, for example, the Urals or the Appalachians. These mountains are much older than such relatively young mountain systems as the Alps in Europe, the Cordillera in North America, Andes in South America or the Himalayas in Asia. Due to erosion lasting many millions of years, the Urals and the Appalachians are badly destroyed and low.
The giant ocean that washed Pangea is called Panthalassa.
Pangea was formed in the Permian period, and split at the end of the Triassic, about 200-210 million years ago, into two continents. The northern continent of Laurasia later split into Eurasia and North America, while the southern continent of Gondwana later formed Africa, South America, India, Australia and Antarctica.
It should be noted that supercontinents existed earlier, for example, Rodinia, which broke up 750 million years ago.
According to some forecasts, in the future, the continents will once again gather into a supercontinent called Pangea Ultima, unless, of course, the events that made it widely known take place.
Pangea Ultima (lat. Pangea Ultima - “Last Pangea”) is a hypothetical supercontinent into which, according to some forecasts, all the current continents will merge in 200-300 million years.
This theory intersects with the theory of Amasia, the future continent of Eurasia and North America, which will become the core of the future supercontinent.
In some Russian publications, this continent is called in translation "Last Pangea" (see the figure below).
Opening of Origin of the Continents and Oceans (1924), depicting the evolution of the Earth's surface.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the hypothesis of continental drift was most comprehensively worked out by the German geophysicist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener (1880-1930). Long before him, many geographers and philosophers drew attention to the amazing similarity of the outlines of the western coast of Africa and the eastern coast of South America, but no one came to the revolutionary idea that once these and other continents were a single entity - a supercontinent, to which Wegener named Pangea. Why did a hypothetical supercontinent break apart and the continents began to drift freely on the surface of the Earth, like icebergs in the ocean? Wegener was unable to offer a convincing drift mechanism, which caused a decline in interest in his ideas.
Earth. Inside view
The simplest explanation was alternative hypothesis about the expansion of the Earth and the gradual increase in the area of its oceans. Then modern continental drift is apparent! In fact, they remain in their place, and the growing gaps between them are gradually filled (healed) by the newly formed oceanic crust, hidden under many kilometers of water. If we exclude modern oceans and leave some continents on the surface of the Earth, its radius would have to be halved!
Such an assumption was too bold for its time, and the vast majority of geologists in the period between the two world wars rejected it, preferring the view that the volume of the Earth did not undergo significant changes in its geological history.
The hypothesis of continental drift again attracted attention after the Second World War, on a new round. scientific research. First, they compiled detailed maps depths of the World Ocean and open chains of mid-ocean ridges stretching tens of thousands of kilometers. Secondly, strip magnetic anomalies symmetrical to the mid-ridges were found in all oceans, which unequivocally testified in favor of the expansion of the oceans over the past hundreds of millions of years. Thirdly, by deep-sea drilling it was found that oceanic crust very young compared to the oldest rocks that make up the continents.
All this indicated that the ancient supercontinent really existed, and modern continents are its dispersed fragments.
Since the idea of the constancy of the size of the Earth still dominated, geologists needed to explain where the old oceanic crust (and perhaps in some places also the continental crust) went if the seabed was moving apart at the mid-ocean ridges of all oceans. A possible explanation was found by American geologists in the 60s of the last century. It included two processes that Soviet geologists did not translate into Russian: subduction (immersion) and convection (circulation).
The new theory was called lithospheric plate tectonics. According to this theory, the main structural elements earth's surface it was not continents and oceans that became, but plates - relatively rigid fragments of the earth's crust, set in motion by slow convection of matter in the underlying mantle. The plates were allowed to break apart, move thousands of kilometers, collide, dive under each other, and even completely subduct (melt down in the depths of the mantle).
Let's drift, brother!
At first, few plates were identified on Earth, no more than a dozen, and the mechanism of their multidirectional drift due to the convection of matter in the mantle seemed quite plausible. But subsequent observations and studies have shown that the large slabs identified at first are not completely rigid, and they are subject to internal deformations and movements. The model had to be complicated, and tectonist geologists began to map dozens of plates of various ranks: from macroplates to microplates.
Accordingly, in order to explain the relative displacements of microplates, the concept of matter convection in the upper part of the mantle was proposed in addition to full-mantle convection. But the physical nature of the complex network of convective cells that arise in a practically solid mantle and change their geometry and orientation over time for unknown reasons is difficult to imagine and justify. Only the thought of the ancient Greek Hades, the terrible ruler of the underworld with a bad temper, comes to mind...
Excessive complication of the model usually leads scientists to the logical idea that it needs to be radically revised.
Returning to lithospheric plate tectonics, we note that the opponents of this concept raised uncomfortable questions from the very beginning. There were three fundamental doubts.
First, why in some oceans a relatively young (and therefore not cooled and light) oceanic crust sinks and dives under other oceanic or continental plates, while in other oceans a much older (and therefore cooled and heavy) oceanic crust of the same composition retains buoyancy? Secondly, how can convection physically occur in the mantle if it is inhomogeneous and its density noticeably increases with depth according to generally accepted models? Thirdly, the idea that about 250 million years ago all the drifting continents formed into one supercontinent (Pangaea) on one side of the Earth, on the other side of which a huge ocean dominated, looked implausible. And then, as if, a cyclical process of splitting the supercontinent began ...
Geologists-tectonists liked to "play" with the life and death of large and small lithospheric plates so much that they did not want to pay due attention to hard-to-explain facts. The vast majority of geologists in the world unconditionally accepted plate tectonics, and already in the 80s of the last century, the “new paradigm” completely won. Other tectonic hypotheses were declared uncompetitive, and the search for alternatives and new approaches was considered irrelevant.
In our century, few people question the theory of plate tectonics, and geologists already call it classical, although unsolved problems remain. For example, in the magnificently designed two-volume monograph "The World Ocean", prepared by scientists Russian Academy Sciences and Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov (2013), notes that “plate tectonics, like any theory, has its limitations and cannot explain all the observed facts. Ignoring or misinterpreting fundamental principle The incompleteness of any theory can lead to a common methodological error and attempts to replace the theory of plate tectonics with a new concept.
And yet she swells!
This is how, in just a few decades, a revolutionary idea became a dogma and a brake on the development of scientific thought. Of course, with such an approach, you will not hear a prophet in your own country... But he exists! I mean the Russian geologist, doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences Vladimir Larin (b. 1939).
In the 70s of the last century, he proposed a hypothesis about the initially hydride Earth, the core of which is not just metallic, but saturated with hydrogen, that is, it consists of metal hydrides. Larin's model is able to explain both the doubling of the Earth's radius over the past 200 million years and the huge accumulations of oil, natural gas and other hydrocarbons in the upper layers of the earth's crust.
Based on Larin's theory, hydrocarbons in earth's crust are of inorganic origin. This is a consequence of a powerful flow of hydrogen rising from the Earth's core through the mantle and the earth's crust over a long geological time. If this is true, then this is good news for humanity: oil fields are fed by deep faults, and oil will not be exhausted in the foreseeable future!
I graduated from Moscow State University in 1980, and the professors then told us that there would probably be enough oil for our lives. But almost 40 years later, its production levels reached record levels. And, like decades ago, the main producing countries are forced to agree on limiting production in order to stabilize oil prices.
The deep structure of the Earth will never be known thoroughly, and it will always be possible to describe it with several models. Accordingly, it will always be possible to defend several stories of the formation and development of the Earth. Hypotheses about the expansion of the Earth make it much easier to explain the global processes that have taken place and are taking place in the earth's crust than the tectonics of lithospheric plates.
Based on the principle of simplicity, the hypotheses about the expansion of the Earth are entitled to serious study. Quite a lot of such hypotheses were expressed in the 20th century. This is the hypothesis Nobel laureate the physicist Paul Dirac (1092–1984) on the decrease in the gravitational constant with time; and the hypothesis of the emergence of new matter in the center of the planet; and the hypothesis of the absorption of neutrinos flying from the sun; and Larin's hypothesis of a primordially hydride Earth.
In 1984, Tsentrnauchfilm released a short film about the geologist Vladimir Nikolaevich Larin and his paradoxical views. This educational film is now easy to find and watch on the Internet. The film ends with the words: "Every proposed and logical hypothesis can play an important role in the development of our knowledge." Official science represented by the Russian Academy of Sciences and Moscow State University does not yet consider Larin's hypothesis a serious alternative to lithospheric plate tectonics. It turned out that it is more difficult for modern scientists to accept the significant expansion of the Earth, which continues to this day, than to accept the concept of an expanding Universe. After all, even Albert Einstein did not believe the astronomers at first!
Remember, at school they said that once our planet was one continent, which was inhabited by incredible creatures that can no longer be found. It is not so easy to imagine modern continents, assembled into one single land, like giant puzzles! Even more amazing is how strong prehistoric earthquakes and tectonic shifts were, that they even destroyed ancient Pangea and made it out of it at once 6 individual continents.
Scientists have done a lot of research on Pangea, but they still have a lot of questions. Moreover, if the theory of continental drift did not exist, the concept of a supercontinent might never have appeared at all. Here is a list of 10 amazing facts about Pangea, which not everyone knows about.
10. Why did Pangea even appear and why did it split?
Scientists still face two important questions about the Pangea supercontinent. How and why did our pra-continent form, and also why did it split into several parts? The answers to these questions were not so obvious. Scientists still cannot accept one general version of the development of events, since there are several worthy theories at once.
Most researchers believe that the whole thing is in the earth's mantle. Probably, the tectonic plates were shifting due to the heating of the mantle from radioactive decay, which caused the formation of Pangea, and then its split into separate continents.
Such processes do not occur constantly, which is why it took so long for the supercontinents to form and break apart. It's incredible how much power the Earth's mantle holds and how much it has affected the appearance of our planet as we know it today.
9. Great Rift Valley
Not far from Kenya, there is a whole chain of deep crevices that seem to tear the land apart. This area is called the Great Rift Valley or the East African Rift, and it looks both terrifying and bewitching. The earth here is literally divided in half, which even resembles some of the spectacles from action films.
Once there were roads and houses in the area of this unique valley, but they have long been swallowed up by the East African Rift. Perhaps such tectonic activity indicates the resumption of the formation of a supercontinent like Pangea. Would you be interested in witnessing something similar?
So how is this valley connected to Pangea? Naturally, the supercontinent that Pangea once was will not appear on our planet soon. However, the appearance of new gorges confirms the theory of the existence of Pangea and the theory of continental drift, and also helps to shed light on what supercontinents will look like millions of years from now.
8. Fossil evidence
Prehistoric fossils also help scientists understand what life was like on Pangea millions of years ago. Nowadays, we all know that in North America elephants can only be found in the zoo, and polar bears do not live in Africa. Some animals simply do not belong in countries with unsuitable climate and topography for them. However, archaeologists have come across fossils that have been preserved since the time of the pro-continent Pangea, and these finds confirm that once upon a time, almost the same creatures could be found all over the Earth, although today the flora and fauna on different continents have clear differences. It turns out that it was possible to find some fossil remains only for one simple reason - all the continents were once connected by a single land, and they were not separated by the waters of the oceans.
Cynognathus (Cynognathus) was an ancient reptile, and it lived on our planet during the Triassic period, that is, when Pangea existed. Scientists have discovered the remains of this animal in South America and Africa. Lystrosaurs (Lystrosaurus) were other terrestrial reptiles, and their remains have been found in India as well as Antarctica and Africa. If these lands were not part of a single Pangea, the discovery of prehistoric remains of listrosaurs in such places far from each other would be simply impossible. Archaeological evidence clearly points to the validity of the theory of the existence and division of Pangea.
7. Panthalassa
We all know that there are 5 oceans on Earth: the Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Southern. All these oceans are simply huge and occupy most of our planet. At the time of Pangaea, almost all the same amount of water was in a single ocean, which modern scientists called Panthalassa.
Since once the earth's land was a single pra-continent of Pangea, only one ocean surrounded its shores. This means that the currents in that prehistoric ocean were completely different - not the same as today.
According to experts, the currents of Panthalassa should have carried out their movement at a greater depth. In addition, scientists suggest that during the time of Pangea there were no such significant tides. This gigantic single ocean should have been very calm, and the temperature of the water in it should not have varied so much as in modern world.
6. Functioning of new oceans
When Pangea began to split into different continents, the movement of water in the ocean changed. The split of the procontinent into different continents not only divided the ancient ocean of Panthalassa, but also caused the emergence of completely new ocean currents.
These currents began to move in a circle from west to east, which had never happened before under Panthalassa. In addition, the distribution and distribution of cold and warm water has also changed. As the oceans became more disconnected, it became increasingly difficult for currents to move and mix warm water with cold water, and this significantly affected water temperatures in different parts of the world.
5. Climate
Researchers believe that the central parts of the modern continents were very arid, and that during the existence of Pangea there was almost no rain. All this resembles a desert climate, and this phenomenon was due to the fact that these territories were surrounded by high mountains, which restrained the influx of rain clouds into certain regions. Thanks to the discovery of deposits hard coal in certain places, scientists came to the conclusion that the part of the land of Pangea, which was closest to the equator, was covered with tropical rainforests. It is difficult to imagine how different the climate was on the prehistoric supercontinent. It seems even more incredible how, with the help of such a seemingly insignificant find, experts are able to figure out what life was like on our planet in the most ancient times.
4 Mass Extinction
Even now, a huge number of animals are on the verge of extinction. However, we have not yet witnessed the extinction of most species at once in one short period of time. Mass extinctions are rare, but they have happened in the past and will continue in the future.
During the time of Pangea, a mass extinction occurred approximately 252 million years ago. This period was called the "Permian Mass Extinction", and after it, creatures that became relatives of modern birds were among the survivors. The first species of dinosaurs also appeared around the same years.
3. Cycles of supercontinents
You have probably already understood that today our planet looks completely different from what it was in the days of Pangea. However, researchers are sure that the current appearance of the Earth will not be eternal, and that in the future a huge supercontinent like Pangea will appear on it again.
Throughout the history of the Earth, the continents have converged and diverged, sometimes forming supercontinents, but again splitting them apart, so this will most likely happen again in the future. Already, Australia is gradually approaching Asia, which actually indicates the possibility of the emergence of a future supercontinent here.
How long will it take for such a massive landmass to form, and will we be able to see it with our own eyes? A similar process can take from 300 to 400 million years, and then about the same time is needed for the division of a new supercontinent into several smaller landmasses. In general, not only we, but also our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, of course, will not be able to witness something like this.
2. Animal world
Pangea could remind us of a picture of an extraterrestrial world from a movie, if we could move in the blink of an eye to the Permian period. In those years, life on our Earth was completely different from the modern one to which we are so accustomed. A lot of different animals lived on Pangea, and most of them were very different from the modern fauna. For example, traversodontidae (Traversodontidae) represented a family of herbivores that were supposedly the ancestors of today's mammals, and during the time of Pangea they were especially numerous. By the way, even then all sorts of beetles and dragonflies scurried around.
During the Triassic period, the first archosaurs appeared on Earth, which eventually became the ancestors of modern crocodiles and birds. At the end of the Triassic period, as we mentioned earlier, dinosaurs also inhabited our planet. However, those new dinosaurs did not look exactly like in the "Park Jurassic».
Researchers believe that these dinosaurs had very porous bones, and that they were covered in feathers, not scales like reptiles are familiar to us. Most of the species that lived on Earth during the existence of the supercontinent Pangea just became the progenitors of the modern fauna.
1. The name "Pangea"
Pangea is not only a very strange, but also a very symbolic name for the pracontinent. In 1912, a meteorologist named Alfred Wegener became the first scientist to propose the idea of the existence of supercontinents. He worked on the theory of continental drift, and this study led him to the idea that once upon a time on Earth there should have been either a few more major continents, or one huge supercontinent. But why did he decide to call the very first of them Pangea?
The word "pangea" comes from the Greek word "pangaya", meaning "the whole earth". This name was just perfect for the supercontinent, which is discussed in our selection, because once Pangea was just a single land, and all the lands were then collected in one place. Of course, Wegener faced fierce criticism of his theory, but without his fundamental work on the theory of continental drift and on the concept of Pangea, we would not have as much evidence in favor of these ideas as we already have. Wegener's assumptions are no longer in doubt today.