| When New Zealand split away from the supercontinent Gondwana some 80 million years ago, its flora and fauna were left to develop in isolation. |
| Amalgamation of the late Palaeozoic supercontinent Pangaea led to the collision of Gondwana with Laurasia forming the Variscan orogen. |
| The salt was formed in a sea that existed when the supercontinent Pangea broke up some 200 million years ago. |
| At longer time-scales, plate tectonic activity appears quasi-periodic and self-organizes into the supercontinent cycle. |
| The hundred million years and more of Pangean history saw a succession of cosmopolitan animal dynasties spread over the entire supercontinent. |
| Some 250 million years ago, all the continents were grouped into a single supercontinent known as Pangaea. |
