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The geological history of the Earth follows the major geological events in Earth's past based on the geological time scale, a system of chronological measurement based on the study of the planet's rock layers (stratigraphy). Earth formed about 4.54 billion years ago by accretion from the solar nebula, a disk-shaped mass of dust and gas left ...
The name "Pangaea" is derived from Ancient Greek pan (πᾶν, "all, entire, whole") and Gaia or Gaea (Γαῖα, " Mother Earth, land"). [4][9] The first to suggest that the continents were once joined and later separated may have been Abraham Ortelius in 1596. [10] The concept that the continents once formed a contiguous land mass was ...
Landmass. A landmass, or land mass, is a large region or area of land that is in one piece and not broken up by oceans. [1][2] The term is often used to refer to lands surrounded by an ocean or sea, such as a continent or a large island. [3][4] In the field of geology, a landmass is a defined section of continental crust extending above sea ...
The remaining 29.2% of Earth's crust is land, most of which is located in the form of continental landmasses within Earth's land hemisphere. Most of Earth's land is somewhat humid and covered by vegetation, while large sheets of ice at Earth's polar deserts retain more water than Earth's groundwater, lakes, rivers and atmospheric water combined.
The geological time scale (GTS), as defined by international convention, [3] depicts the large spans of time from the beginning of the Earth to the present, and its divisions chronicle some definitive events of Earth history. Earth formed around 4.54 billion years ago, approximately one-third the age of the universe, by accretion from the solar ...
The Earth mass is a standard unit of mass in astronomy that is used to indicate the masses of other planets, including rocky terrestrial planets and exoplanets. One Solar mass is close to 333 000 Earth masses. The Earth mass excludes the mass of the Moon. The mass of the Moon is about 1.2% of that of the Earth, so that the mass of the Earth ...
In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth 's continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass. [1][2][3] However, some geologists use a different definition, "a grouping of formerly dispersed continents", which leaves room for interpretation and is easier to apply to Precambrian times. [4]
In geology, a continent is defined as "one of Earth's major landmasses, including both dry land and continental shelves". [3] The geological continents correspond to seven large areas of continental crust that are found on the tectonic plates , but exclude small continental fragments such as Madagascar that are generally referred to as ...