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

Abstract

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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Gurnis, M. Large-scale mantle convection and the aggregation and dispersal of supercontinents. Nature 332, 695–699 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/332695a0

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