Several hundred million years ago, Earth's continents fit together snugly in the supercontinent Pangea. The jigsaw puzzle-like parts separated and move along Earth’s surface as tectonic plates. On world maps, the bulge of South America fits Africa's concave Gulf of Guinea, because their plates were apposed in Pangea. The Himalayan mountains are the buckling of the crashing Indian and Eurasian plates. In 200 million years, our continents will again form a single land mass in the ongoing supercontinent cycle.
Geophysicist Mitchell’s engaging core book explains the stories of Pangea; its predecessor supercontinents, Rodinia and Columbia; and the next supercontinent, Amasia. Dr. Mitchell clearly explains paleomagnetism; the structure and dynamics of our planet; seismology; rock cycles and dating; and much more.
