Pannotia - Definition and Overview

Pannotia was a supercontinent that existed from about six hundred million years ago (mya) to about five hundred forty mya. It was first described by Dalziel in 1997

About 750 mya, the previous supercontinent Rodinia rifted apart into three continents:

• Protolaurasia (Protolaurasia broke apart and eventually reformed as Laurasia)
• The continent (craton) of Congo
• Protogondwana (all of Gondwana except the Congo craton and Atlantica)

Protolaurasia rotated southwards towards the south pole. Protogondwana rotated counterclockwise. Congo came between Protogondwana and Protolaurasia about six hundred mya. This formed Pannotia.

Pannotia was short-lived. The collisions that formed Pannotia were glancing collisions, and the continents composing Pannotia already had active rifting. By about five hundred forty mya, or only about sixty million years after Pannotia formed, Pannotia disintegrated into four continents: Laurentia, Baltica, Siberia and Gondwana.

External links

• A picture (http://Scotese.Com/precambr.htm) about Pannotia according to Professor Christopher Scotese, Ph.D. (it is referred to as the late Precambrian Supercontinent in the image).

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