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(Top) 1 List of Continents 2 References

Chronology of continents

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Acontinent is a large geographical region defined by the continental shelves and the cultures on the continent.^[1] In the modern day, there are seven continents. However, there have been more continents throughout history. Vaalbara was the first supercontinent.^[2] Europe is the newest continent.^[3] Geologists have predicted that certain continents will appear, these being Pangaea Proxima, Novopangaea, Aurica, and Amasia.

List of Continents[edit]


Name	Era	Time before present	Reference
Vaalbara	Eoarchean	3.6-2.7 Ga	^[2]
Ur	Paleoarchean	3.1 Ga	^[4]
Kenorland	Neoarchean	2.7 Ga	^[5]
Arctica	Neoarchean	2.565 Ga	^[6]
Columbia	Paleoproterozoic	2.1-1.5 Ga	^[7]
Atlantica	Paleoproterozoic	2.0 Ga	^[8]
Nena	Paleoproterozoic	1.9 Ga	^[9]
Baltica	Paleoproterozoic	1.8 Ga	^[10]
Rodinia	Neoproterozoic	1100-633 Ma	^[11]
Avalonia	Neoproterozoic	750 Ma	^[12]
Pannotia	Neoproterozoic	500-600 Ma	^[13]
Pampia	Neoproterozoic	555-515 Ma	^[11]
Gondwana	Neoproterozoic	550 Ma	^[14]
Cimmeria	Neoproterozoic	550 Ma	^[15]
Laurasia	Neoproterozoic	550 Ma	^[16]
Cuyania	Paleozoic	~420-390 Ma	^[17]
Chilenia	Paleozoic	~420-390 Ma	^[18]
Pangaea	Paleozoic	335 Ma	^[16]
Africa	Paleozoic	300 Ma	^[19]
South America	Mesozoic	225 Ma	^[20]
North America	Mesozoic	200 Ma	^[21]
Mauritia	Mesozoic	70-60 Ma	^[22]
Asia	Mesozoic	66 Ma	^[23]
Australia	Cenozoic	10 Ma	^[24]
Europe	Cenozoic	5 Ma	^[25]
Pangaea Proxima		~250 myf	^[3]
Novopangaea		~250 myf	^[26]
Aurica		~250 myf	^[26]
Amasia		~250 myf	^[26]

References[edit]

^ "Continent". National Geographic Society. 2011-09-20. Archived from the original on 2021-03-03. Retrieved 2021-02-01.

^ ^a ^b Zegers, T. E.; de Wit, M. J.; White, S. H. (1998). "Vaalbara, Earth's oldest assembled continent? A combined. structural, geochronological, and palaeomagnetic test" (PDF). Terra Nova. 10(5): 250–259.

^ ^a ^b Willams, Caroline; Nield, Ted (2007). "Earth's next supercontinent". New Scientist. 196 (2626): 36–40. doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(07)62661-X.

^ Rogers & Santosh 2003, Rodinia, pp. 363–364

^ Pesonen, L. J.; Elming, S.-Å.; Mertanen, S.; Pisarevsky, S.; D’Agrella-Filho, M. S.; Meert, J. G.; Schmidt, P. W.; Abrahamsen, N.; Bylund, G. (2003). "Palaeomagnetic configuration of continents during the Proterozoic". Tectonophysics. 375 (1–4): 289–324

^ Vernikovsky, V. A.; Dobretsov, N. L. (2015). "Geodynamic evolution of the Arctic Ocean and modern problems in geological studies of the Arctic region". Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 85 (3): 206–212.

^ Zhao, G.; Cawood, P. A.; Wilde, S. A.; Sun, M. (2002). "Review of global 2.1–1.8 Ga orogens: implications for a pre-Rodinia supercontinent". Earth-Science Reviews. 59 (1): 125–162.

^ Rogers, John J. W. (1996). "A History of Continents in the past Three Billion Years". The Journal of Geology. 104 (1): 91–107. Bibcode:1996JG....104...91R. doi:10.1086/629803. ISSN 0022-1376. S2CID 128776432. Archived from the original on 2021-03-03. Retrieved 2021-02-01.

^ Gower, Ryan & Rivers 1990, Introduction, p. 2

^ Cocks, L. R. M.; Torsvik, T. H. (2005). "Baltica from the late Precambrian to mid-Palaeozoic times: the gain and loss of a terrane's identity" (PDF). Earth-Science Reviews. 72 (1–2): 39–66.

^ ^a ^b Gaucher, Claudio; Bossi, Jorge; Blanco, Gonzalo (2009). "Palaeogeography". Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Tectonics, Global Change and Evolution: A Focus on South Western Gondwana. Developments in Precambrian Geology. 16. pp. 131–41. doi:10.1016/S0166-2635(09)01609-0. ISBN 978-0-444-53249-7.

^ Murphy, J. B.; Pisarevsky, S. A.; Nance, R. D.; Keppie, J. D. (2001). Jessell, M. J. (ed.). "Animated history of Avalonia in Neoproterozoic - Early Proterozoic". General Contributions. Journal of the Virtual Explorer. 3: 45–58. doi:10.3809/jvirtex.2001.00026. Retrieved 28 November 2015.

^ Scotese 2009, Reconstruction of Rodinia and Pannotia, p. 68

^ Bradley, D.C. (2011). "Secular Trends in the Geologic Record and the Supercontinent Cycle". Earth-Science Reviews. 108 (1–2): 16–33. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.715.6618. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2011.05.003.

^ Buchs, D. M.; Bagheri, S.; Martin, L.; Hermann, J.; Arculus, R. (2013). "Paleozoic to Triassic ocean opening and closure preserved in Central Iran: Constraints from the geochemistry of meta-igneous rocks of the Anarak area". Lithos. 172: 267–287.

^ ^a ^b Blakey 2003, Assembly of Western Pangaea: Carboniferous–Permian, pp. 453–454; Assembly of Eastern Pangaea: Late Permian–Jurassic, p. 454; Fig. 10, p. 454

^ Rapalini 2005

^ Rapalini, A.E. 2005. The accretionary history of southern South America from the latest Proterozoic to the Late Palaeozoic: some palaeomagnetic constraints. From: Vaughan, A. R M., Leat, P. T. & Pankhurst, R. J, (eds). Terrane Processes at the Margins of Gondwana. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 246, 305-328.

^ "Africa - Geologic history". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2021-02-01.

^ "South America - Geologic history". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2020-05-07. Retrieved 2021-02-04.

^ "North America - Tectonic evolution". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2015-05-03. Retrieved 2021-02-01.

^ Torsvik, Trond H.; Amundsen, Hans; Hartz, Ebbe H.; Corfu, Fernando; Kusznir, Nick; Gaina, Carmen; Doubrovine, Pavel V.; Steinberger, Bernhard; Ashwal, Lewis D.; Jamtveit, Bjørn (24 February 2013). "A Precambrian microcontinent in the Indian Ocean" (PDF). Nature Geoscience. 6 (3): 223–227. doi:10.1038/ngeo1736. hdl:10852/62002. ISSN 1752-0894. Retrieved 5 December 2015.

^ "Asia - Geologic history". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2008-11-18. Retrieved 2021-02-01.

^ "Australia - Geologic history". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2015-05-02. Retrieved 2021-02-01.

^ "Europe - Geologic history". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2014-12-12. Retrieved 2021-02-01.

^ ^a ^b ^c Wilkins, Alasdair. "A Geological History of Supercontinents on Planet Earth" at io9. 27 Jan 2011. Accessed 22 July 2014.

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