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Carboniferous paleogeographyFormer supercontinentsGeology of AsiaGeology of Europe

Laurasia

Adapted from Wikipedia · Explorer experience

An artist's reconstruction of the supercontinent Rodinia as it may have looked 900 million years ago, showing how the Earth's landmasses were once joined together.

What Was Laurasia?

Laurasia was a very old part of Earth. It was the northern side of a huge land called Pangaea. This was a very long time ago, from about 335 to 175 million years ago. The southern side of Pangaea was called Gondwana.

How Did Laurasia Form?

Laurasia formed from many smaller pieces of land. Two big parts were Laurentia, which is now part of North America, and Eurasia, which includes parts of Europe and Asia. Other pieces, like Avalonia, Baltica, Kazakhstania, and Siberia, also joined together.

Why Do We Know About Laurasia?

People learned about Laurasia by studying rocks and fossils. Scientists noticed that some rocks and fossils on different continents matched. This helped them understand that these lands were once connected. Laurasia was important because it helped shape the continents we live on today.

Laurasia Today

Laurasia does not exist anymore. It broke apart when the North Atlantic Ocean began to open about 56 million years ago. The pieces of Laurasia moved and became the continents we know now, like North America and Europe. Even though it is gone, Laurasia helps us learn about Earth's history.

Images

A map showing how Earth looked 405 million years ago during the Emsian Age.
Ancient map showing the position of Laurasia within the supercontinent Pannotia 600 million years ago.
An ancient map showing where the landmass Laurasia was located 550 million years ago during the breakup of a supercontinent.
A scientific map showing the ancient supercontinent Laurasia 430 million years ago during the closure of the Iapetus Ocean.
Map showing the positions of ancient continents including Laurasia and Gondwana 330 million years ago during the closure of the Rheic Ocean.
An ancient map showing how the Ural Mountains and the landmass Laurasia formed over 300 million years ago.
Ancient map showing how the Ural Mountains formed and how the land looked 280 million years ago.
Ancient map showing how the Ural Mountains formed and how the landmass Laurasia looked 240 million years ago.
An ancient map showing how the lands of Asia were arranged 450 million years ago, based on scientific models of plate tectonics.
An ancient map showing how the landmasses of Asia were arranged 350 million years ago according to scientific models.
An ancient map showing how the continents of Asia were positioned 300 million years ago, based on scientific models of plate tectonics.
A map showing how the landmasses of Asia looked about 200 million years ago during the Jurassic period, based on scientific models of plate tectonics.
A scientific illustration showing how the North Atlantic Ocean began to form about 90 million years ago, based on geological data.

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Laurasia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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