supercontinent

American  

[soo-per-kon-tn-uhnt] / ˌsu pərˈkɒn tn ənt /

noun

Geology.

1. a hypothetical protocontinent of the remote geologic past that rifted apart to form the continents of today.

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supercontinent British  

/ 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

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supercontinent Scientific  

/ so̅o̅′pər-kŏn′tə-nənt /

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.

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Etymology

Origin of supercontinent

First recorded in 1955–60; super- + continent

Example Sentences

In a remarkably short geological period, massive glaciers spread across the southern supercontinent Gondwana.

From Science Daily • Jan. 11, 2026

Beneath the surface sits one of Australia's earliest fossil-bearing locations, a site that provides a rare look into a time when the continent was still part of a much larger supercontinent.

From Science Daily • Nov. 15, 2025

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

From BBC • Jul. 7, 2025

The Karoo-Ferrar LIP, for example, occurred on the former supercontinent Gondwana, and that material is now spread out across the southern hemisphere, spanning modern-day Southern Africa, Antarctica and Tasmania, the scientists said.

From Science Daily • Feb. 29, 2024

The supercontinent began to break apart, however, and by 60 million years ago, Antarctica had migrated south to its present location over the Pole.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong