Continental Drift Wegener suggested that the continents were all together in the geologic past, forming the supercontinent Pangaea. Today’s coastlines of South America and Africa are a match because these two continents were once joined together.

To him, the presence of identical fossil species along the coastal parts of Africa and South America was the most compelling evidence that the two continents were once joined.

Some 180 million years ago, in the Jurassic Period, the western half of Gondwana (Africa and South America) separated from the eastern half (Madagascar, India, Australia, and Antarctica). The South Atlantic Ocean opened about 140 million years ago as Africa separated from South America.

The theory of continental drift is most associated with the scientist Alfred Wegener.

According to plate tectonic evidence, Gondwana was assembled by continental collisions in the Late Precambrian (about 1 billion to 542 million years ago). Gondwana then collided with North America, Europe, and Siberia to form the supercontinent of Pangea.

Gondwana was an ancient supercontinent that broke up about 180 million years ago. The continent eventually split into landmasses we recognize today: Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica, the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian Peninsula.

About 300 million years ago, Earth didn’t have seven continents, but instead one massive supercontinent called Pangaea, which was surrounded by a single ocean called Panthalassa.

During the Triassic Period, the immense Pangea landmass began breaking apart as a result of continental rifting. A rift zone running the width of the supercontinent began to open up an ocean that would eventually separate the landmass into two enormous continents.

Located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres, Eurasia is considered a supercontinent, part of the supercontinent of Afro-Eurasia or simply a continent in its own right.

Just as our continents were once all connected in the supercontinent known as Pangea (which separated roughly 200 million years ago), scientists predict that in approximately 200-250 million years from now, the continents will once again come together.

From about 280-230 million years ago (Late Paleozoic Era until the Late Triassic), the continent we now know as North America was continuous with Africa, South America, and Europe. They all existed as a single continent called Pangea.

As continents broke apart from Pangaea, species got separated by seas and oceans and speciation occurred. This drove evolution by creating new species. Also, as the continents drift, they move into new climates.

The first phases of Homo developed less than 2,000,000 (two million) years ago. Pangea , the supercontinent existed approximately 335,000,000 (three-hundred thirty five) years ago. It would be impossible for any species that even slightly classify as humans to exist during the same time as Pangea did.

The Atlantic Ocean

California is located at the seam of the Pacific Plate, which is the world’s largest plate at 39,768,522 square miles, and the Northern American plate.

Pangaea

At the end of its existence, Pangaea split into Northern and Southern continents — Laurasia and Gondwana. Modern Eurasia and North America formed from Laurasia and Africa, South America, India, Australia and Antarctica formed from Gondwana respectively.

The continents do not float on a sea of molten rock. The continental and oceanic crusts sit on a thick layer of solid rock known as the mantle. Under the continents is a layer of solid rock known as the upper mantle or asthenosphere.

Australia

Over the next 100m years, the position of Australia moved steadily south, towards more temperate zones, and finally to the edge of the Antarctic Circle by roughly 270m years ago (seven minutes ago, in our geofilm).