[B-CG09] Decoding the history of Earth: From Hadean to the present

[BCG09-01] Pseudo-supercontinent Pangea; what is true super-continent?

*Shigenori Maruyama¹, Inna Safonova², M Santosh³ (1.Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2.Novosibirsk State University, 3.China University of Geosciences)

Keywords:Pangea, Supercontinent

Supercontinent Pangea played a critical role for the idea of continental drift, and led an establishment of plate tectonics through ocean-floor spreading. The definition of supercontinent is to one huge continent formed by connecting all continents with each other.

In addition, the Miocene Earth must have been a supercontinent, because all continents were connected together, at least continental crusts centered in Asia with Africa, Saudi-Arabia, Australia, N. America, S. America together with middle America, and Antarctica with S. America through small island arc called Georgia arc (?).

After the period of establishment of plate tectonics, the mechanical process to form a supercontinent has been argued, and was proposed the process of supercontinent formation by TTT junctions to swallow continents through time. If we follow the process, Pangea and Miocene Earth are not the true supercontinent, because it was an apparent stage to lead final supercontinent Amasia ca.250 m.y. after the present.