 Hypothesized Neoproterozoic supercontinent |
Pannotia (from Greek: pan-, "all", -nótos, "south"; meaning "all southern land"), also known as the Vendian supercontinent, Greater Gondwana, and the Pan-African supercontinent, is a proposed relatively short-lived Neoproterozoic supercontinent that may have formed at the end of the Precambrian during the Pan-African orogeny (650–500 Ma), during the Cryogenian period, and broke apart 560 Ma with the opening of the Iapetus Ocean, in the late Ediacaran and early Cambrian.1 Pannotia formed when Laurentia was located adjacent to the two major South American cratons, Amazonia and . The opening of the separated Laurentia from , Amazonia, and Río de la Plata. A 2022 paper argues that Pannotia never fully existed, reinterpreting the evidence: "the supposed landmass had begun to break up well before it was fully assembled". However, the assembly of the next supercontinent is well established.
