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How did Pangea’s breakup create more shallow-water habitats?

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Permian paleogeography — Pangea Distribution of landmasses, mountainous regions, shallow seas, and deep ocean basins near the end of the Permian Period. Included in the paleogeographic reconstruction are the locations of the interval's subduction zones.

The breakup of the supercontinent Pangea increased the availability of shallow-water habitats through several geological and geographical changes.1

As the supercontinent fragmented, the overall length of the Earth's shorelines increased significantly, providing more coastal areas for shallow-water environments to develop. Furthermore, the separation of the landmasses opened new channels between the emerging continents. These channels allowed for the mixing of warm and cold ocean waters, which fostered the creation of diverse new marine habitats.1

This process was the inverse of Pangea’s formation, during which the consolidation of landmasses had eliminated many shallow-water marine basins and inhibited the circulation of polar waters, leading to a decline in marine biodiversity.1