Ur is the first known continent that probably formed 3 billion years ago in the early
ArcheanThe Archean is a geologic eon before the Proterozoic and Paleoproterozoic, before 2.5 Ga . Instead of being based on stratigraphy, this date is defined chronometrically...
Eon. Ur joined with the continents
NenaNena was an ancient supercontinent that consisted of the cratons of Arctica, Baltica, and East Antarctica. Forming about 1.8 billion years ago, the continent was part of the global supercontinent, Columbia. Nena is an acronym that derives from Northern Europe and North...
and
AtlanticaAtlantica was an ancient continent theorised to have formed about two billion years ago. About 200 million years later, it became part of the major supercontinent Columbia. 300 million years later, Columbia broke up; Atlantica became part of the minor supercontinent Nena, along with Baltica,...
about one billion years ago to form the supercontinent
RodiniaIn geology, Rodinia is the name of a supercontinent, a continent which contained most or all of Earth's landmass...
. Ur survived for a long time, until it was sundered when the supercontinent
PangaeaPangaea, Pangæa, or Pangea was the supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configuration.The name was first used by the German originator of the continental...
broke apart about 208 million years ago into
LaurasiaLaurasia was a supercontinent that most recently existed as a part of the split of the Pangaea supercontinent in the late Mesozoic era. It included most of the landmasses which make up today's continents of the northern hemisphere, chiefly Laurentia , Baltica, Siberia, Kazakhstania, and the North...
and
GondwanaGondwana , originally Gondwanaland, is the name given to a southern precursor-supercontinent. Its final joining occurred between ca. 570 and 510 Ma ago, joining East Gondwana to West Gondwana. It later separated from Laurasia 180- during the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent that existed about...
. It now forms parts of
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
,
AustraliaAustralia is the smallest of the geographic continents, though not of geological continents. There is no universally accepted definition of the word "continent"; the lay definition is "One of the main continuous bodies of land on the earth's surface."...
,
IndiaThe Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent and other terms, is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate south of the Himalayas, forming a peninsula which extends southward into the Indian Ocean...
, and
MadagascarMadagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the fourth-largest island in the world, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are endemic to...
. In the early period of its existence, it was probably the only continent on Earth, and is so considered by some to be a
supercontinentIn geology, a supercontinent is a landmass comprising more than one continental core, or craton. The assembly of cratons and accreted terranes that form Eurasia qualifies as a supercontinent today.-History:...
, even though it was probably smaller than Australia is now.
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Ur is the first known continent that probably formed 3 billion years ago in the early
ArcheanThe Archean is a geologic eon before the Proterozoic and Paleoproterozoic, before 2.5 Ga . Instead of being based on stratigraphy, this date is defined chronometrically...
Eon. Ur joined with the continents
NenaNena was an ancient supercontinent that consisted of the cratons of Arctica, Baltica, and East Antarctica. Forming about 1.8 billion years ago, the continent was part of the global supercontinent, Columbia. Nena is an acronym that derives from Northern Europe and North...
and
AtlanticaAtlantica was an ancient continent theorised to have formed about two billion years ago. About 200 million years later, it became part of the major supercontinent Columbia. 300 million years later, Columbia broke up; Atlantica became part of the minor supercontinent Nena, along with Baltica,...
about one billion years ago to form the supercontinent
RodiniaIn geology, Rodinia is the name of a supercontinent, a continent which contained most or all of Earth's landmass...
. Ur survived for a long time, until it was sundered when the supercontinent
PangaeaPangaea, Pangæa, or Pangea was the supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configuration.The name was first used by the German originator of the continental...
broke apart about 208 million years ago into
LaurasiaLaurasia was a supercontinent that most recently existed as a part of the split of the Pangaea supercontinent in the late Mesozoic era. It included most of the landmasses which make up today's continents of the northern hemisphere, chiefly Laurentia , Baltica, Siberia, Kazakhstania, and the North...
and
GondwanaGondwana , originally Gondwanaland, is the name given to a southern precursor-supercontinent. Its final joining occurred between ca. 570 and 510 Ma ago, joining East Gondwana to West Gondwana. It later separated from Laurasia 180- during the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent that existed about...
. It now forms parts of
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
,
AustraliaAustralia is the smallest of the geographic continents, though not of geological continents. There is no universally accepted definition of the word "continent"; the lay definition is "One of the main continuous bodies of land on the earth's surface."...
,
IndiaThe Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent and other terms, is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate south of the Himalayas, forming a peninsula which extends southward into the Indian Ocean...
, and
MadagascarMadagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the fourth-largest island in the world, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are endemic to...
. In the early period of its existence, it was probably the only continent on Earth, and is so considered by some to be a
supercontinentIn geology, a supercontinent is a landmass comprising more than one continental core, or craton. The assembly of cratons and accreted terranes that form Eurasia qualifies as a supercontinent today.-History:...
, even though it was probably smaller than Australia is now. When it was the only continent on Earth, all other land was in the form of small granite islands and small land-masses like Kenorland that were not large enough to be continents.
History of Ur
- ~3 billion years ago, Ur formed as the only continent
A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criterion, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents – they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
on EarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the fifth largest of the eight planets in the solar system, and the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in terms of diameter, mass and density...
.
- ~2.8 billion years ago, Ur was a part of the major supercontinent Kenorland
Kenorland was one of the earliest supercontinents on Earth. It is believed to have formed during the Neoarchaean Era ~2.7 billion years ago by the accretion of Neoarchaean cratons and the formation of new continental crust...
.
- ~2 billion years ago, Ur was a part of the major supercontinent Columbia
Columbia is the name of one of the Earth's oldest supercontinents. It was first proposed by J.J.W. Rogers and M. Santosh, and is thought to have existed approximately 1.8 to 1.5 billion years ago in the Paleoproterozoic Era, making it the oldest hypothesized continent...
.
- ~1 billion years ago, Ur was a part of the major supercontinent Rodinia
In geology, Rodinia is the name of a supercontinent, a continent which contained most or all of Earth's landmass...
.
- ~550 million years ago, Ur was a part of the major supercontinent Pannotia
Pannotia, first described by Ian W. D. Dalziel in 1997, is a hypothetical supercontinent that existed from the Pan-African orogeny about 600 million years ago to the end of the Precambrian about 540 million years ago...
.
- ~300 million years ago, Ur was a part of the major supercontinent Pangaea
Pangaea, Pangæa, or Pangea was the supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configuration.The name was first used by the German originator of the continental...
.
- ~208 million years ago, Ur was torn apart into parts of Laurasia
Laurasia was a supercontinent that most recently existed as a part of the split of the Pangaea supercontinent in the late Mesozoic era. It included most of the landmasses which make up today's continents of the northern hemisphere, chiefly Laurentia , Baltica, Siberia, Kazakhstania, and the North...
and GondwanaGondwana , originally Gondwanaland, is the name given to a southern precursor-supercontinent. Its final joining occurred between ca. 570 and 510 Ma ago, joining East Gondwana to West Gondwana. It later separated from Laurasia 180- during the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent that existed about...
.
- ~65 million years ago, the Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
n part of Ur was torn apart as part of India.
- ~Present, Ur is part of Australia and Madagascar.