Re: What was Pangea?

Pangaea – Whole Land

Looking at a globe reveals coincidences that are difficult to ignore. The Eastern coast of South America seams to fit perfectly, almost like a puzzle, into the Western coast of Africa. At the same time, North America can be rotated slightly, and made to fit comfortably next to Europe, and Asia.

These clues have lead geologists and other scientists to examine the relationships of other clues. Ancient fossil records show that the same plants and animals lived along the Eastern coast of South America, as did along the Western coast of Africa, as did other plants and animals along the coasts of North America and Europe.

Laurasia

Laurasia is the name given to the largely northern supercontinent that is thought to have formed most recently during the late Mesozoic era, as part of the split of the Pangaeansupercontinent. It also is believed that the same continents comprising Laurasia existed as a coherent landmass much earlier, forming after the breakup of the hypothesized supercontinent Rodinia about 1 billion years ago. The landmass of this earlier period is sometimes referred to as Proto-Laurasia to avoid confusion with the Mesozoic supercontinent.

The name Laurasia combines the names of Laurentia and Eurasia. Laurasia included most of the landmasses that make up today's continents of the northern hemisphere, chiefly Laurentia (the name given to the North American craton), as well as Baltica, Siberia, Kazakhstania, and the North China and East China cratons.

The formation of different supercontinents, such as Laurasia, is explained today by the theory of plate tectonics, which recognizes the earth to have a thin, solid crust, made up of several plates, that floats or rides on an inner layer of melted rock. The view of a supercontinent that is hundreds of millions of years old poses a problem for young-earth creationists, but plate tectonics is widely accepted today and backed by considerable scientific evidence.

Latitude & longitude

latitude is measured from the equator, with positive values going north and negative values going south. Longitude is measured from the Prime Meridian (which is the longitude that runs through Greenwich, England), with positive values going east and negative values going west. So, for example, 65 degrees west longitude, 45 degrees north latitude is -65 degrees longitude, +45 degrees latitude.

Gondwanaland

Gondwanaland broke into the continents Africa, Antarctica, Australia and south America.