Supercontinent

supercontinent, large landmass that accounts for the vast majority of Earth’s land. Some researchers argue that the threshold for a landmass to be considered a supercontinent is approximately 75 percent of Earth’s continental crust, whereas others note that a supercontinent must be made up of most or all of the world’s existing cratons (the stable continental interiors). While supercontinents are often presented as features of the past that forged the smaller continents of the present, geological models suggest that the world’s current continents will eventually coalesce into larger landmasses. Such processes form the basis of the so-called supercontinent cycle, in which supercontinents form, break apart, and form again in new configurations.