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

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 river ran through the central region of what was the supercontinent of Pangaea, which was formed from all of Earth's landmasses.

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With nearly 80% of its skeleton intact, it’s one of the most complete specimens yet found of the iconic armor-plated, herbivorous dino, which lived throughout what is now North America and Europe about 150 million years ago, when both were part of the supercontinent Laurasia.

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The study focused on a previously underexplored region, Polish Basin, located in the Late Triassic time in the in the northern parts of the then supercontinent Pangea.

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The remains of bygone meals provide an intimate peek at how dinosaurs displaced rivals, diversified into myriad shapes and sizes, and grew into giants between 230 million and 200 million years ago in one part of the ancient supercontinent Pangaea.

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This not only highlights the basin's potential but also ties it to a broader geological narrative of Gondwana, the ancient supercontinent.

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