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Why were Pangea’s equatorial waters largely isolated from cold ocean currents?
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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.
Pangea’s equatorial waters were largely isolated from cold ocean currents primarily because the landmass of the supercontinent itself acted as a barrier. By the end of the Permian Period, the configuration of the land prevented cooler waters from the polar regions from entering the Paleo-Tethys and Tethys basins.1
This isolation, combined with the presence of these immense, warm-water seas surrounded by parts of Pangea, helped maintain high temperatures in the equatorial region. Because these basins were shielded from the mixing of colder waters, the water temperatures in shallow areas could rise significantly, at times exceeding the tolerance limits of marine organisms such as corals.21