Question

A Geologic History of Earth




Earth is always changing. Lots and lots of years ago it looked very different than today. The shape of the land on Earth has changed. Earth’s climate has also changed.



More than 200 million years ago, all of the continents were in a big bunch together. They made one huge continent. This continent was called Pangaea.



Over time, the continents moved very slowly. They came to be where they are today. Still, scientists are pretty sure Pangaea happened.



They can tell it did because the continents all look like puzzle pieces. There are also lots of similar rocks on different continents. There are even similar fossils. This makes people think the continents were once closer together.



Earth’s climate has also changed a lot. Earth keeps going between very cold times and in-between times. A long time ago, it was very cold all over Earth. This was called an ice age.



Today, we are in an in-between time. It is not as cold as it used to be. Scientists still study the ancient ice ages. It helps them learn about Earth’s history.


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Questions
Do you think Pangaea was real? Why?
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Answer 1

Yes — scientists think Pangaea was real. The continents fit together like puzzle pieces, and matching rocks and mountain ranges line up across now-separated continents. The same fossils (for example, Mesosaurus and Glossopteris) are found on different continents, and there are signs of ancient glaciers in places that are now warm. Today we also measure plates moving with GPS and see evidence from the ocean floor (sea‑floor spreading), which all support that the continents were once joined.