Science
Related: About this forumThis Map Lets You Plug in Your Address to See How It's Changed Over the Past 750 Million Years
The interactive tool enables users to home in on a specific location and visualize how it has evolved between the Cryogenian period and the present
Meilan Solly
Associate Editor, History
February 15, 2019
Some 240 million years ago, the patch of land that would one day become the National Mall was part of an enormous supercontinent known as Pangea. Encompassing nearly all of Earths extant landmass, Pangea bore little resemblance to our contemporary planet. Thanks to a recently released interactive map, however, interested parties can now superimpose the political boundaries of today onto the geographic formations of yesteryearat least dating back to 750 million years ago.
The results are intriguing: During the early Triassic epoch, the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for example, was wedged almost directly adjacent to Mauritania, yet to be separated from the Northwest African country by the vast waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Ancient Earth, the tool behind this millennia-spanning visualization, is the brainchild of Ian Webster, curator of the worlds largest digital dinosaur database. As Michael Destries reports for Mother Nature Network, Webster drew on data from the PALEOMAP Projectspearheaded by paleogeographer Christopher Scotese, the initiative tracks the evolving distribution of land and sea over the past 1.1 billion yearsto build the map.
Users can input a specific address or more generalized region, such as a state or country, and then choose a date ranging from zero to 750 million years ago. Currently, the map offers 26 timeline options, traveling back from the present to the Cryogenian period at intervals of 15 million to 150 million years.
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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/map-lets-you-plug-your-address-see-how-neighborhood-has-changed-over-past-750-million-years-180971507/
❤️pants
JohnnyRingo
(19,311 posts)Thanx for posting!
littlemissmartypants
(25,483 posts)SWBTATTReg
(24,085 posts)ago! This is so neat!
littlemissmartypants
(25,483 posts)Skittles
(159,328 posts)COL Mustard
(6,886 posts)Maps of my town from 100-150 years ago.
littlemissmartypants
(25,483 posts)More evidence of the importance of our elders. ❤️
littlemissmartypants
(25,483 posts)Skittles
(159,328 posts)how it will look 100 years from now
tclambert
(11,134 posts)littlemissmartypants
(25,483 posts)WVreaper
(649 posts)Thanks for turning everyone on to the link. But I thought the earth was only 6000 years old, where's the button for 6000 years ago. Only asking for a non friend.
Permanut
(6,638 posts)littlemissmartypants
(25,483 posts)littlemissmartypants
(25,483 posts)Permanut
(6,638 posts)littlemissmartypants
(25,483 posts)MichaelSoE
(1,576 posts)It looks like it's heading that way again , eh?!
jimfields33
(18,871 posts)Judi Lynn
(162,384 posts)This material will stick in readers' minds for quite a while, LMSP!
Thank you.
littlemissmartypants
(25,483 posts)So much there to unpack.
That our planet is fifty percent or more water and that we know so little about the contents blows my mind, too.
Thanks so much for your reply and encouraging words, Judi Lynn. I really enjoy your posts!