Why do the continent's geology differ if they once all belonged to the same land mass

A.� Geological evidence is one of the factors that suggests that all the currently separate continents formed one large land mass called Pangaea. However, the geological processes that shape the earth's surface are ongoing, consequently it is being constantly reformed and recycled, creating new geological features.

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Additionally since Pangaea split up processes particular to separate continents have resulted in further differences between them.

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Q.� What was Pangaea

A.� Pangaea was a huge single landmass. It existed around 225 million years ago during the Permian. Fossil and geological evidence led the German scientist Alfred Wegener to suggest that the earth's current continents had once formed one large landmass.

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Pangaea can be divided into a northern region called Laurasia and a southern region called Gondwanaland. These two halves were joined by a relatively narrow neck of land that eventually parted in about the Middle Jurassic period as the whole of Pangaea started to split up.

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Q.� What does Pangaea mean

A.� It's Greek and means 'all lands'.

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Q.� Why did Pangaea split up

A.� Because of continental drift, a theory also postulated by Wegener. The earth's internal radioactive decay and the heat it generates drive continental drift. Hot rock rises up from the crust and spreads out on the surface to form the ocean floor. As the ocean floor spreads it pushes the continents around resulting in earthquakes and mountain ranges. They move one or two centimetres each year.

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Q.� What did Pangaea originally split into

A.� Two super continents: Gondwanaland and Laurasia.

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Gondwanaland comprised of modern day South America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica. Laurasia was formed from North America, Northern Europe and Siberia.

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Scientists believe that the earth's crust has been undergoing these transformations for most of it's 4.6 billion year history. In two hundred million years a new Pangaea will be formed when all the continents converge again, followed by another inevitable break up and reforming of the land masses.

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Do you have a question about a geological process Click here to ask.

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by Lisa Cardy