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The creation of Pangaea, several hundred million years ago, occurred
when the two major continental plates, Laurasia (N.America, Europe, Asia)
and Gondwanaland (S.America, Africa, India, Australia and Antarctica)
collided. For an animation showing how all the southern continents
in Gondwanaland once fit together, click HERE.
As the land drifted apart, rift valleys where created (such as the Red Sea). Where continents collide, we see large up-swelling of crust, called folded mountain chains, such as the Himalayas. |
3) Location of Earthquakes and Volcanism
Sites with high occurrence of earthquakes and volcanos will always
line up exactly along the plate boundaries identified above, or over
hot spots (like the Hawaiian Islands).