ˈsupercontinent Geol.
[super- 6 c.]
One of the large land masses that are thought to have existed in the geological past and from which two or more of the present continents are thought to be derived; = protocontinent. Cf. Gondwanaland, Laurasia, Pangæa.
| 1963 Sci. Amer. Apr. 89/1 According to Wegener all the continents had been joined in a single supercontinent about 200 million years ago. 1969 Times 25 Apr. 13/8 Australia and Antarctica are also thought to have been joined together, the land mass they formed being part of the supercontinent of Gondwanaland. 1970 [see Panthalassa]. 1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 210 In the late Permian we thus encounter a single sea-less supercontinent, a phenomenon probably unique in the history of the Earth. |