Talk:Pangaea

Please stop with the "the odds are Pangaea happend lotz and lotz, lul". The earth has only had a solid crust for less than a billion years. It has only had time to happen once, and it just happens to be the configuration that was in existence when the first life crawled out of the ocean. However, it will happen again in about half a billion years, apparently. Wazza (Not Wazzock, Wazza)Approach the Presence 07:12, 9 June 2008 (EDT)


 * I think you might be wrong, that's why. Quick looking finds this at the WP article: "Rodinia, which formed 1.3 billion years ago during the Proterozoic, was the supercontinent from which all subsequent continents, sub or super, derived. Rodinia does not preclude the possibility of prior supercontinents as the breakup and formation of supercontinents appears to be cyclical through Earth's 4.6 billion years."  ħ uman  20:35, 9 June 2008 (EDT)

"Continent" implies the existence of an ocean. When did the oceans form? Wazza (Not Wazzock, Wazza)Approach the Presence 20:37, 9 June 2008 (EDT)
 * What on earth are you on about? The WP article specifically lists 3 or 4 precursors to Pangaea.  Have you read what I copied above?  I know WP is not the be-all and end-all of authorities, but still...  ħ uman  20:40, 9 June 2008 (EDT)

Sorry, bit distracted... My real point is the sentence I deleted is too vague and wishy-washy. Define it a little tighter and I'd accept it. Also, my point above holds: continents need oceans, and I'm not sure the oceans were that big more than a billion years ago. Wazza (Not Wazzock, Wazza)Approach the Presence 20:43, 9 June 2008 (EDT)


 * Also: "Outgassing and volcanic activity produced the primordial atmosphere. Condensing water vapor, augmented by ice and liquid water delivered by asteroids and the larger proto-planets, comets, and trans-Neptunian objects produced the oceans.[18] The highly energetic chemistry is believed to have produced a self-replicating molecule around 4 billion years ago, and half a billion years later, the last common ancestor of all life existed.[21]"


 * So the answer to your question looks like "about 4 billion years ago".


 * And I agree, the iffyness needs to be fixed, since it's actually true.  ħ uman  20:44, 9 June 2008 (EDT)

I really don't like that sentence at all. I'm sorry, I just don't. It's ugly. Wazza (Not Wazzock, Wazza)Approach the Presence 20:46, 9 June 2008 (EDT)
 * I keep editing it for prettiness. First you said Earth only had a crust for a billion years.  Then that it had no oceans until 1 bya.  Both statements are not accurate.  You were also not correct about when life formed... Now it's that the sentence is ugly?  What exactly do you have against pre-Pangaean plate tectonics?  ħ uman  21:02, 9 June 2008 (EDT)

I'm making a template to explain it all, and deal with similar future situations. Wazza (Not Wazzock, Wazza)Approach the Presence 21:06, 9 June 2008 (EDT)
 * Why not just explain what you mean here, and we'll worry about the future need for a template if a similar issue ever arises again?  ħ uman  21:07, 9 June 2008 (EDT)
 * Ah, I see. In other words, it's almost certain to happen again ;)  You did allude to being distracted above.  Eh, we all get "distracted" from time to time (see alcohol).  Now I want to make me a big ole animated .gif of continental ping pong...  ħ uman  21:10, 9 June 2008 (EDT)

Saving overwritten poemtry
"as the scum of light silica compounds scurries over the heavier elements forming the mantle almost like geological weather."  ħ uman  14:08, 11 June 2008 (EDT)
 * How ugly is that sentence? That's an ugly sentence. Wazza (Not Wazzock, Wazza)Approach the Presence 01:32, 14 June 2008 (EDT)
 * That's your opinion. It might have needed tweaking, but it tells the truths in a lovely way.  ħ uman  01:39, 14 June 2008 (EDT)
 * It's the "scurries" that makes it poetic. 01:42, 14 June 2008 (EDT)
 * Thanks... sometimes it's all about one word, and the rest has to be improoved around it until it's perfect. Sometimes, "ugly" sentences make teh grate poemtry.  ħ uman  02:14, 14 June 2008 (EDT)