Several hundred million years ago, Earth's continents fit together snugly in the supercontinent Pangea. The jigsaw puzzle-like parts separated and move along Earth’s surface as tectonic plates. On world maps, the bulge of South America fits Africa's concave Gulf of Guinea, because their plates were apposed in Pangea. The Himalayan mountains are the buckling of the crashing Indian and Eurasian plates. In 200 million years, our continents will again form a single land mass in the ongoing supercontinent cycle.
Geophysicist Mitchell’s engaging core book explains the stories of Pangea; its predecessor supercontinents, Rodinia and Columbia; and the next supercontinent, Amasia. Dr. Mitchell clearly explains paleomagnetism; the structure and dynamics of our planet; seismology; rock cycles and dating; and much more.
1. Pangea (first half of Chapter 1)
2. Pangea (second half of Chapter 1)
3. Rodinia (first half of Chapter 2)
4. Rodinia (second half of Chapter 2)
5. Columbia (Chapter 3)
6. The Unknown Archean (Chapter 4)
7. The Next Supercontinent (first half of Chapter 5)
8. The Next Supercontinent (second half of Chapter 5) and Surviving Amasia (Epilogue)
Mitchell, Ross, The Next Supercontinent: Solving The Puzzle Of A Future Pangea, The University Of Chicago Press, Chicago and London (2023), 273 pp. Available from Amazon, hardcover for $30 and Kindle for $22.49.