what caused pangea to split

Pangaea split because Earth’s tectonic plates kept moving, driven by heat and convection in the mantle, which eventually stretched and broke the supercontinent apart. One major trigger may have been massive volcanic activity linked to hot mantle upwellings, though scientists still debate whether that was the main cause or one of several causes.

What happened

Pangaea did not crack open all at once; it rifted apart over millions of years, beginning around 200 million years ago. As the crust thinned and pulled apart, new ocean basins formed, including the early Atlantic.

Main forces

• Mantle convection pushed and pulled the plates from below.

• Continental rifting weakened Pangaea until it split.

• Volcanic activity may have helped initiate the breakup by heating and weakening the crust.

Big picture

Think of Pangaea like a giant cracked sheet of ice: once stress built up, the cracks widened and separated into pieces that became today’s continents.