Panthalassa

For the Miles Davis album, see Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969–1974. For the Japanese race horse, see Panthalassa (horse).
The Panthalassa superocean 250 million years ago
The supercontinent Pangaea in the early Mesozoic (at 200 Ma) surrounded by Panthalassa.
The Pacific Plate began forming when the triple junction at the center of Panthalassa destabilized about 190 million years ago.

Panthalassa, also known as the Panthalassic Ocean or Panthalassan Ocean (from Greek πᾶν "all" and θάλασσα "sea"),[1] was the vast superocean that encompassed planet Earth and surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea, the latest in a series of supercontinents in the history of Earth. During the Paleozoic–Mesozoic transition (c. 250 Ma), the ocean occupied almost 70% of Earth's surface, with the supercontinent Pangaea taking up less than half. The original, ancient ocean floor has now completely disappeared because of the continuous subduction along the continental margins on its circumference.[2] Panthalassa is also referred to as the Paleo-Pacific ("old Pacific") or Proto-Pacific because the Pacific Ocean is a direct continuation of Panthalassa.

  1. ^ "Panthalassa". Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ Isozaki 2014, Permo–Triassic Boundary Superanoxia and Extinction, pp. 290–291