A Pangea's simple twist of fate

Abstract:

The supercontinent Pangea, which formed about 300 million years ago and broke up after 100 m.y. of existence is cornerstone to understand global plate tectonics, including the processes of assembly and fragmentation of micro-continents, continent-continent collisions and long-term subduction dynamics. Additionally, Pangea is our best reference in the supercontinent enigma.

Pangea is the latest in a series of supercontinents that formed repeatedly since the Archean, only to break up and reform again. Although the mechanisms responsible are controversial, many geoscientists agree that repeated cycles of supercontinent amalgamation and dispersal have had a profound effect on the evolution of Earth's crust, atmosphere, climate, and life. Yet constrain to a first order, the amalgamation of Pangea show a major kinematic problem: the paleomagnetic database for the Late Carboniferous supports a continental- scale orocline, predicting large amounts of shortening/extension yet to be reconstructed. Results from a multidisciplinary approach suggest that the formations of a huge orocline change had profound influence in the amalgamation of the supercontinent changing Pangea's fate.