Isthmus of Panama

The Isthmus of Panama () is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. It links North and South America. It contains the country of Panama and the Panama Canal.


The isthmus formed about four million years ago. It separated the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It caused the Gulf Stream. 

Its history was first suggested in 1910 by North American paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn. He based the proposal on the fossil record of mammals in Central America.Osborn H.F. 1910. The Age of Mammals. Macmillan.  

Osborn's ideas were used by Alfred Wegener when he proposed the theory of continental drift in 1912.Wegener, A. (2003) [1912]. Translated by Roland von Huene. The Origins of Continents (http://www0.unsl.edu.ar/~bibliogeo/index_archivos/wegener.pdf). Milestones in Geosciences. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer: 4–17. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-08763-3_1. ISBN 978-3-642-07919-1. (Original German article from 1912 with English translation from 2003.)

 References 

Category:Geography of Panama