A Computer Animation of Continental Drift

Abstract

A computer animation of continental drift has been produced which illustrates the movements of the continents during the last 545 million years. Beginning in the Late Cambrian, the animation shows the sequence of continental collisions which by the end of the Paleozoic formed the supercontinent, Pangaea. The remainder of the film describes the breakup of Pangaea and the subsequent formation of the world's ocean basins. The animation was made at Shell Development Company, Houston, Texas. It is entitled, Dynamic Continents, and is black and white, silent, and runs approximately 5 min. © 1980, Society of Geomagnetism and Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences. All rights reserved.