Supercontinent

High school (ages 12+)
Geography

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/supercontinent

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. How big is Supercontinent?Pangaea Proxima, predicted to form within the next 250 million years
2. How heavy is Supercontinent?Afro-Eurasia, covering approximately 57% of Earth's total land area
3. What is the last supercontinent?Pangaea, existed from approximately 336 to 175 million years ago
4. What is the driving mechanism?Plate tectonics is the fundamental process responsible for supercontinent assembly and dispersal
5. When did the last supercontinent, Pangaea, exist?Pangaea was together from about 336 to 175 million years ago, during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras.
6. How does a supercontinent break apart?When plates move, the big landmass splits, creating new oceans like the Atlantic and changing sea levels.

Craton: A stable, ancient core of continental lithosphere, forming the foundation of continents.
Plate Tectonics: The geoscientific theory describing the large-scale motion of Earth's lithosphere, which is broken into plates.
Paleogeography: The study of the geographic features and distributions of land and water on Earth in past geological ages.
Mantle Convection: The slow churning motion of Earth's mantle, which drives plate tectonics.