Panthalassa
Panthalassa (Greek Πάν "everything" and Θάλασσα "sea" ) is the name of a global ocean, the global supercontinent Pangaea in the era of the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic - 300-150 mya - surrounded them.
The former supercontinent Rodinia - 1100-800 mya - was surrounded by Mirovia, the forerunner Panthalassas.
Development
Since in the course of the Earth, the plate tectonic distribution of land and water masses by the constant
- Riftzonenbildung and hot spot volcanism of the lithosphere
- Seafloor spreading
- Subduction of oceanic plates and the general
- Continental drift of the continental plates and cratons
Changed several prehistoric oceans can be distinguished. It existed alongside or in the global ocean Panthalassa from approximately:
- Triassic - 240 mya - the Tethys forms an eastern bay of Pangaea.
- Ediacaran to the Paleozoic - 600 mya to 300 mya - the Proto - Tethys and the Palaeotethys, the Iapetus Ocean, the Khanty- Mansi Ocean and the Ocean Rheische form as part of the oceans in the global Panthalassa.
- Cryogenium - 750 mya - Mirovia freezes up to two miles deep around the South Pole. The Pan-African ocean forms a bay of the now Panthalassa and surrounding Gondwana, the then equator nearer part Rodinias.
- Stenium - 1100 mya - Mirovia surrounds as a precursor Panthalassas the resulting Rodinia.