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The concept that the continents once formed a contiguous land mass was hypothesised, with corroborating evidence, by Alfred Wegener, the originator of the scientific theory of continental drift, in three 1912 academic journal articles written in German titled Die Entstehung der Kontinente (The Origin of Continents). [11]
According to modern definitions, a supercontinent does not exist today; [1] the closest is the current Afro-Eurasian landmass, which covers approximately 57% of Earth's total land area. The last period in which the continental landmasses were near to one another was 336 to 175 million years ago, forming the supercontinent Pangaea .
An image of Afro-Eurasia, the largest landmass on Earth. A landmass, or land mass, is a large region or area of land that is in one piece and not noticeably broken up by oceans. [1] [2] The term is often used to refer to lands surrounded by an ocean or sea, such as a continent or a large island. [3] [4] In the field of geology, a landmass is a ...
Like most breakups, the separation of continents is not a quick and painless process.. Take the supercontinent Gondwana, for example. Some 180 million years ago, the landmass separated from what ...
Afro-Eurasia (also Afroeurasia and Eurafrasia) is a landmass comprising the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The terms are compound words of the names of its constituent parts. Afro-Eurasia has also been called the " Old World ", in contrast to the " New World " referring to the Americas .
Animation of the break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea and the subsequent drift of its constituents, from the Early Triassic to recent (250 Ma to 0).. This is a list of paleocontinents, significant landmasses that have been proposed to exist in the geological past.
It covers roughly 539 million years. During this period continents drifted apart, but eventually collected into a single landmass known as Pangea, before splitting again into the current continental landmasses. [citation needed] The Phanerozoic is divided into three eras – the Paleozoic, the Mesozoic and the Cenozoic.
By approximately 23 million years ago, the landmass may have been completely submerged. [11] [12] Today, most of the landmass (94%) remains submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean. [13] New Zealand is the largest part of Zealandia that is above sea level, followed by New Caledonia. Mapping of Zealandia concluded in 2023. [14]