Sea level changes, erosion, sedimentation, and uplift and subsidence of the surface can change the shapes of costlines. It has been dound that the present day continental shelves acutally fit together better than the Coastlines. This makes sense, as when Pangaea rifted apart, the land immediately around the rifts would have dropped below sea level.
Pangaea. "All the World." It's gone. It was the supercontinent that existed at the beginning of the Age of the Dinosaurs. Its counterpart was Panthalassa, "All the Sea." It broke up by 64 million B.C. and the present continents (Africa, Asia, the Americas, etc.) are parts of it.
Continental Drift Theory
pangea
Laurasia and Gondwana land are the super continents formed millions of years ago in the midst of the Tethys sea.These super continents subsequently broke into present continents due to drift.Laurasia comprised the present parts of Europe and Asia while the Antarctica once used to be the part of Gondwana.
1. The continents fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. 2. There are animal and plant species, extant and extinct, present on separated continents.
One reason is because the Coastlines of land masses change over time. If you map the edges of the continental shelves, the fit is much better.
One reason is because the Coastlines of land masses change over time. If you map the edges of the continental shelves, the fit is much better.
One reason is because the Coastlines of land masses change over time. If you map the edges of the continental shelves, the fit is much better.
The Earth's tectonic plates are constantly moving, shifting the positions of the continents over millions of years. As a result, the present shapes of the continents do not fit perfectly into a supercontinent like Pangaea due to the ongoing process of plate tectonics causing changes in their positions and shapes. Additionally, erosion and other geological processes have also played a role in altering the landmasses' shapes over time.
Asia was the continet that wasnt part of it.
On Pangaea, present-day Africa was connected to North and South America, with Europe and Asia adjacent to the north. Australia was near Antarctica and India was near Africa. Over time, the movement of tectonic plates caused these landmasses to break apart and drift to their current positions.
The theory that all present continents were once joined together in a supercontinent called Pangaea was proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912. He suggested that over time, Pangaea broke apart into the continents we see today, a process known as continental drift.
The Mesozoic Supercontinent is known as Gondwana or Gondwanaland.
the movement of convection currents in the mantle is the cause of plate motion.
the movement of convection currents in the mantle is the cause of plate motion.
the movement of convection currents in the mantle is the cause of plate motion.
the movement of convection currents in the mantle is the cause of plate motion.