Pangea by Pedro
Channel: lufonsecadasilva
Date: 2012-01-19

Pangaea, Pangæa, or Pangea is hypothesized as a supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras, forming 300 million years ago and beginning to break up approximately 200 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configuration.There were three major phases in the break-up of Pangaea. The first phase began in the Early-Middle Jurassic (about 175 Ma), when Pangaea began to rift from the Tethys Ocean in the east to the Pacific in the west, ultimately giving rise to the supercontinents Laurasia and Gondwana. In the second major phase in the break-up of Pangaea the minor supercontinent of Gondwana separated into multiple continents (Africa, South America, India, Antarctica, and Australia). The third major and final phase of the break-up of Pangaea: Laurasia split when North America/Greenland (also called Laurentia) broke free from Eurasia, opening the Norwegian Sea.