Question

Panthalassa is the name of
A)Ancient mountain chain
B)Hypothetical lake where life originated
C)Super ocean around Pangaea
D)Eastern extension of Pangaea.

Answer 1

Hint: Panthalassa existed around the Paleozoic-Mesozoic transition that is around 300 million years ago. It occupied about 70% of the earth’s surface. It is also known as Palea-Pacific. Now Panthalassa has completely disappeared.

Complete answer:
To solve this question, we must know about the earth during the Paleozoic-Mesozoic transition.
Around 300 million years ago, there existed only a single large continent and a large ocean which occupied around 70% of the earth.
The word Panthalassa means all sea. It was a super ocean which surrounded the supercontinent. The floor of the ocean has completely disappeared due to the reduction along the margins of the continents around its boundaries. It is also known as Proto-Pacific Ocean. It is assumed that the Pacific Ocean developed from the Panthalassa ocean. (option A, B is incorrect)

Pangea is said to be the supercontinent which existed around 300 million years ago. The seven continents didn’t exist, rather one huge supercontinent called the Pangaea existed. The humans didn’t exist during that time. The Pangea is believed to have been surrounded by Panthalassa. (Option C is correct)

The Pangea was surrounded by the Panthalassa on all the sides. (option D is incorrect)

Hence, the correct answer is option (C)

Note: Panthalassa was much larger than today's largest ocean that is the Pacific Ocean. It was a hemisphere-sized ocean. It exhibited simple ocean current circulation and was mostly stagnant and stratified due to its huge size. It has the coldest water which was brought by the upwelling in the east and the warmest water which extended from the west into the Tethys Ocean.