Question

In the ancient times, all of the landmass was aggregated together in the form of the supercontinent _____________.
A. Tethys
B. Gondwanaland
C. Pangea
D. Angaralang

Answer 1

Hint: A supercontinent, by definition, is a landmass that contained most of all the continents within it.Keeping that in mind, some of the given options can easily be crossed out because though they were massive landmasses, they did not contain all the continents.

Complete answer:
Super-continents are defined as landmasses that are assembled out of all of the continental blocks of the earth. Some scientists also define it as a group of formerly dispersed continents. Supercontinents have formed and broken multiple times over the course of earth’s history. Let us now take a look at each given option to see which one correctly fits the definition.

A. Tethys was not a landmass at all. It was a former body of saltwater which is referred to as the Tethys Sea or the Tethys Ocean. It was an ocean during the Mesozoic era. It separated the two landmasses called Gondwana and Laurasia.

B. Gondwanaland or Gondwana was a supercontinent that existed about 550 million years ago. It was during the Neoproterozoic era. Though considered a supercontinent, it is not the correct answer because it did not consist of all the landmasses.

C. Pangea or Pangaea was a supercontinent between the early Mesozoic and late Paleozoic eras. It was the total landmass centered on the equatorial plane of the earth and was surrounded by the ocean Panthalassa. Therefore, it is the correct option.

D. Angaraland, also called Siberia, was an ancient landmass. Today it forms the Central Siberian Plateau. It was a craton and not a supercontinent. Thus it is not the correct answer.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option C.

Note:
-The name Pangea or Pangaea comes from the Greek words ‘Pan’ meaning ‘all’ and ‘Gaea’ meaning the land. Gaea was also the name of the Greek earth goddess.
-The ocean surrounding Pangea is known as the Super-ocean Panthalassa.
-Cratons are old and stable parts of the continental lithosphere. They are found usually in the tectonic plate interiors.
-The name Craton too comes from the Greek word ‘Kratos’ which meant ‘strength’. Kratos was also one the lesser gods in the Greek pantheon.