180 Million Years Ago
About 180 million years ago the super-continent Pangea began to break
up. Scientists believe that Pangea broke apart for the same reason that the
plates are moving today. The movement is caused by the convection currents
that roll over in the upper zone of the mantle. This movement in the mantle
causes the plates to move slowly across the surface of the Earth. About 200
million years ago Pangaea broke into two new continents Laurasia and
Gondwanaland. Laurasia was made of the present day continents
of North America (Greenland), Europe, and Asia. Gondwanaland
was made of the present day continents of Antarctica, Australia, South
America. The subcontinent of India was also part of Gondwanaland. Notice
that at this time India was not connected to Asia. The huge ocean of
Panthalassa remained but the Atlantic Ocean was going to be born soon with
the splitting of North America from the Eurasian Plate.
How do we know that South America was attached to Africa and not to
North America 180 million years ago?
Click on the "Next" button to find out what scientists have learned!
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