Earth History Stories of Our Geological Past

In Chapter 5 we introduced the evidence that at the end of the Paleozoic Era most of the Earth’s continents were joined together, forming the supercontinent Pangea, which in Latin translates as “whole mother-Earth land.” The formation of the Atlantic and Indian oceans primarily records the subsequent breakup of Pangea and led to the hypothesis of continental drift. Although continental drift seemed like a viable mechanism to create new oceans, until we had a full understanding of the Wadati–Benioff subduction zones, where oceans were being destroyed (see Chapter 5), it was reasonable to consider alternate hypotheses.