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paleogeography
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Watch Earth's Continents Move
Cross-sectional diagram showing three tectonic plates at ocean ridges, transform faults, and a subduction zone. The image illustrates rising magma forming rift and subduction volcanoes, convection currents in the mantle, and features such as ocean trenches, extinct and hot-spot volcanoes, and the movement of plates above a molten core and low-velocity mantle layer. Early and Late Permian landmass distribution Pangea: Early Triassic Period Paleogeographic map depicting the arrangement of continents during the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian periods, with a large shaded area showing the extent of the Permo-Carboniferous ice sheet around the ancient South Pole. Arrows indicate the direction of ice sheet movement, and dashed lines outline the ice sheet boundary. The map illustrates continental drift and plate tectonics concepts.
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paleogeography

Also known as: palaeogeography
Written by
Christopher R. Scotese
Professor of Geology, University of Texas at Arlington.
Christopher R. Scotese
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

paleogeography, the ancient geography of Earth’s surface. Earth’s geography is constantly changing: continents move as a result of plate tectonic interactions; mountain ranges are thrust up and erode; and sea levels rise and fall as the volume of the ocean basins change. These geographic changes can be traced through the study of the rock and fossil record, and data can be used to create paleogeographic maps, which illustrate how the continents have moved and how...

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