supercontinent

[ soo-per-kon-tn-uhnt ]

noun

, Geology.

1. a hypothetical protocontinent of the remote geologic past that rifted apart to form the continents of today.

supercontinent

/ ˈsuːpəˌkɒntɪnənt /

noun

1. a great landmass thought to have existed in the geological past and to have split into smaller landmasses, which drifted and formed the present continents

supercontinent

/ so̅o̅′pər-kŏn′tə-nənt /

1. A large continent that, according to the theory of plate tectonics, is thought to have split into smaller continents in the geologic past. The supercontinent Pangaea is believed to have formed when earlier continental landmasses came together sometime before the Permian Period, staying together until after the Triassic Period, when it broke into the smaller supercontinents Laurasia and Gondwanaland . These supercontinents are believed to have later separated into the landmasses that correspond to the current continents. Other supercontinents are hypothesized to have formed and broken apart earlier in geologic time.

Word History and Origins

Origin of supercontinent¹

First recorded in 1955–60; super- + continent

Example Sentences

The Triassic Period ended with a bang beginning around 202 million years ago, as the supercontinent Pangea began to break apart.

From Science News

Eurasia, the supercontinent, is being reshaped before our eyes.

From Time

So it was that about 300 million years ago, tectonic plates again squeezed together — this time to create a supercontinent called Pangea.

From Washington Post

Eventually the supercontinent broke apart, and new mountains grew and exported nutrients again.

From Quanta Magazine

Progress toward complexity stalled during the “boring billion” era, the roughly billion-year reign of the supercontinent Nuna-Rodinia.

From Quanta Magazine