Earth's mantle may have been cooler than thought before Pangea's breakup
Phys.org
February 23, 2026
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The Earth's mantle may have been cooler than previously believed before the breakup of Pangea, challenging long-held theories about the thermal conditions beneath the supercontinent. For decades, scientists thought that heat accumulated under Pangea due to its size and structure, leading to a hotter mantle that facilitated its fragmentation during the Early Jurassic period. However, new research suggests that the mantle was not as hot as once assumed, raising questions about the mechanisms driving the breakup of supercontinents.
During the Early Jurassic, Pangea began to fragment, resulting in the formation of vast new oceans and the drifting apart of continents, which eventually shaped today's modern geography. The old theory posited that a
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Originally published on Phys.org on 2/23/2026