supercontinent
nounEtymology From super- + continent.
1
Geography, Geology, Natural sciences A very large continent that split into smaller ones in the Earth’s geologic past.
- For a supercontinent to form requires a significant volume of continental crustal fragments that survive recycling into the mantle.2001, Kent C. Condie, Mantle Plumes and Their Record in Earth History, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 237:
- Some 200 million years ago, the rocks that became the Palisades cliffs just across the Hudson River from Manhattan formed during volcanic activity that helped rip apart the ancient supercontinent Pangea.2022 February 3, Lucas Joel, “Dissolving in Toxic Oceans: How an Ancient Extinction Happened”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 16 Mar 2022:
2
A modern landmass composed of multiple continents, i.e. Afro-Eurasia or the Americas.
- Derived terms
- supercontinent cycle
- Related terms
- Pangaea