Pangea: Science Videos for Kids - Science Videos for Children on Harmony Square

Pangea or Pangaea was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from earlier continental units approximately 335 million years ago, and it began to break apart about 175 million years ago. In contrast to the present Earth and its distribution of continental mass, much of Pangaea was in the Southern Hemisphere and surrounded by a super-ocean, Panthalassa. Pangaea was the most recent supercontinent to have existed and the first to be reconstructed by geologists.

Pangea's formation is now commonly explained in terms of plate tectonics. The involvement of plate tectonics in Pangea's separation helps to show how it did not separate all at once, but at different times, in sequences. Additionally, after these separations, it has also been discovered that the separated land masses may have also continued to break apart multiple times. The formation of each environment and climate on Pangaea is due to plate tectonics, and thus, it is as a result of these shifts and changes different climatic pressures were placed on the life on Pangea. Although plate tectonics was paramount in the formation of later land masses, it was also essential in the placement, climate, environments, habitats, and overall structure of Pangea.

What can also be observed in relation to tectonic plates and Pangea, is the formations to such plates. Mountains and valleys form due to tectonic collisions as well as earthquakes and chasms. Consequentially, this shaped Pangea and animal adaptations. Furthermore, plate tectonics can contribute to volcanic activity, which is responsible for extinctions and adaptations that have evidently affected life over time, and without doubt on Pangea.

For the approximately 160 million years Pangea existed, many species did well, whereas others struggled. The Traversodonts were an example of such successful animals. Plants dependent on spore reproduction were largely replaced by the gymnosperms, which reproduce through the use of seeds. Later on, insects also thrived, during the Permian period 299 to 252 million years ago. However, the Permian extinction at 252 Mya greatly impacted these insects in mass extinction, being the only mass extinction to affect insects. When the Triassic Period came, many reptiles were able to also thrive, including Archosaurs, which were an ancestor to modern-day crocodiles and birds.

Little is known about marine life during the existence of Pangea. Scientists are unable to find substantial evidence or fossilized remains in order to assist them in answering such questions. However, a couple of marine animals have been determined to have existed at the time - the Ammonites and Brachiopods. Additionally, evidence pointing towards massive reefs with varied ecosystems, especially in the species of sponges and coral, have also been discovered.

Fossil evidence for Pangea includes the presence of similar and identical species on continents that are now great distances apart. For example, fossils of the therapsid Lystrosaurus have been found in South Africa, India and Antarctica, alongside members of the Glossopteris flora, whose distribution would have ranged from the polar circle to the equator if the continents had been in their present position; similarly, the freshwater reptile Mesosaurus has been found in only localized regions of the coasts of Brazil and West Africa.

Additional evidence for Pangea is found in the geology of adjacent continents, including matching geological trends between the eastern coast of South America and the western coast of Africa. The polar ice cap of the Carboniferous Period covered the southern end of Pangaea. Glacial deposits, specifically till, of the same age and structure are found on many separate continents that would have been together in the continent of Pangea.

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