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Supercontinent facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

A supercontinent is a huge land area made up of more than one continent joined together. Imagine several puzzle pieces (continents) fitting to form one giant piece! These amazing landmasses are created when Earth's giant tectonic plates slowly move and crash into each other. This process, called orogeny, also builds huge mountain ranges.

The Earth's continents are always moving. Supercontinents form, then break apart, and then the pieces move around to form new supercontinents again. This whole cycle takes about 450 million years!

Today, Eurasia (Europe and Asia combined) is a good example of a supercontinent. However, the Americas (North and South America) are usually seen as separate continents. This is because the land bridge connecting North and South America is a rather temporary connection in geological terms.

Long ago, two famous supercontinents called Gondwana and Laurasia were formed when an even bigger supercontinent, Pangaea, split apart.

What are ancient supercontinents?

Throughout Earth's long history, there have been many different supercontinents. These were massive landmasses that existed millions or even billions of years ago. Here are some of the most well-known ancient supercontinents, listed from the oldest to the most recent:

  • Vaalbara (~3.6 billion years ago)
  • Ur (~3.1 billion years ago)
  • Kenorland (~2.6 billion years ago)
  • Columbia, also called Nuna (~1.8 to 1.5 billion years ago)
  • Rodinia (~1.1 billion years to ~750 million years ago)
  • Pannotia, also called Vendian (~600 million years to ~540 million years ago)
  • Oldredia (~418–~380 million years ago)
  • Euramerica (~300 million years ago)
  • Pangaea (~300 to ~200 million years ago)
  • Laurasia (~510 to ~200 million years ago)
  • Gondwana (~510 to ~180 million years ago)

Images for kids

  • Pangea animation 03

    Animation showing how Pangaea, an ancient supercontinent, broke apart.

  • FigureSlabAvalanche

    This image shows how dense rock material can break off and sink deep inside the Earth.

  • FigureUPbZircons

    This chart shows the ages of tiny mineral grains (zircons) found in rivers around the world.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Supercontinente para niños

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Supercontinent Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.