What caused Pangaea to split apart?

Question

thanks

Answer 1

plate tectonics

But to tell you the truth: I don't believe this is a complete answer. I think magnetic shifts and temperature oscilations enough to change the form of water- globally, is more likely. But that is not what your teacher wants to know.

Answer 2

Pangea split apart for the same reason that the plates are moving today. Convection currents in the mantle move the plates of the Earth at 1-4 inches per year.

What causes the continents to drift? Here we get to the heart of plate tectonics. The Earth’s crust is divided into nine large plates of rock and a handful of smaller ones. The plates float on a mantle of slightly plastic liquid rock. This liquid rock is heated from below and flows in convection currents that drive the plates. The Earth’s core radiates the heat from twin sources: heat left over from Earth's formation, and heat from the decay of radioactive elements.

Answer 3

The same process that causes the plates to move today.

Thick continental crust blocks the flow of heat, and there is a change in convection currents of the asthenosphere (the soft plastic layer on which the continental and ocean plates 'float'). There is an upwelling of magma, which causes continental rifting to begin. The East African rift valley system is an example of this process.

The Wilson Cycle presents a theory of the first rifting processes.  If you would like to read about the Wilson Cycle, go to:

http://csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/fichter/Wi...

http://www.le.ac.uk/geology/art/gl209/le...

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=...

Answer 4

its when plates move at the bottom of the  earth. hope i helped... good luck :)

Answer 5

Plate Tectonics.