Nature 332, 695 - 699 (21 April 1988); doi:10.1038/332695a0

Large-scale mantle convection and the aggregation and dispersal of supercontinents

Michael Gurnis

Seismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA

The first time-dependent numerical simulations of continental aggregation and dispersal demonstrate a dynamic feedback between the motion of continental plates and mantle convection. Plate velocity is intrinsically episodic. Continental plates aggregate over cold downwellings and inhibit subduction and mantle cooling; the mantle overheats and fragments the continent under tension. Overall, the models are in agreement with the present geophysical state of the mantle and the geological record over the last 200 million years.

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