EarthMapped Rodinia
Rodinia, 1,000 to 600 million years agoN. AmericaS. AmericaAfricaEuropeSiberiaIndiaAustraliaAntarcticaN. AmericaS. AmericaAfricaEuropeSiberiaIndiaAustraliaAntarcticaRODINIAN. AmericaS. AmericaAfricaEuropeSiberiaIndiaAustraliaAntarcticaN. AmericaS. AmericaAfricaEuropeSiberiaIndiaAustraliaAntarcticaN. AmericaS. AmericaAfricaEuropeSiberiaIndiaAustraliaAntarctica

Rodinia Map

Rodinia was a supercontinent that came together about 1,000 to 870 million years ago and broke apart from about 870 to 650 million years ago. This map shows it from 1,000 to 600 million years ago in the MULLER2022 plate model.

Data source: GPlates Web Service, model MULLER2022, CC BY 4.0. Download: GeoJSON .

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What the map shows

Rodinia Rodinia. A supercontinent that assembled about 1,000 to 870 million years ago and broke apart about 870 to 650 million years ago. Source is the oldest supercontinent Supercontinent. A large landmass made of most or all of the continents joined together, such as Pangea. Source we can map with a global plate model. Each step shows today's coastlines moved to where the rocks under them sat, every 100 million years from 1,000 to 600 million years ago Ma. Million years ago. Ma stands for megaannum, one million years. Source . The default step is 900 million years ago, inside the stable phase. Names sit on fixed points of today's continents. Land shapes are only a guide: the coasts of the time were different.

Key facts

  1. The MULLER2022 model has Rodinia assembling from 1,000 to 870 million years ago, stable from 940 to 870 million years ago, and breaking up from about 870 to 650 million years ago. Müller et al. (2022), A tectonic-rules-based mantle reference frame since 1 billion years ago, Solid Earth 13
  2. In the model, the centers of eight continents were closest together at 700 Ma: 9,009 km apart on average. Today the same points are 10,420 km apart.
  3. The widest spread on this map is at 1000 Ma, 10,448 km, as Rodinia comes apart.
  4. North America's center sat at 69.8° S 900 million years ago in the model, deep in the southern hemisphere.
  5. MULLER2022 is built on the full-plate model of Merdith et al. (2021), which runs back to 1 billion years ago. Merdith et al. (2021), Extending full-plate tectonic models into deep time, Earth-Science Reviews 214

How far apart the continents were

Average distance between the centers of eight continents at each step, and the old latitude of four of them. A smaller distance means a tighter cluster.

Rodinia in the MULLER2022 model
AgeAverage distance (km)North AmericaSouth AmericaAfricaEurope
1000 Ma 10,448 65.8° S 52.1° S 5.0° S 24.2° S
900 Ma 10,338 69.8° S 53.4° S 0.9° N 26.3° S
800 Ma 9,640 70.6° S 52.2° S 16.3° S 25.6° S
700 Ma 9,009 70.7° S 47.9° S 5.2° S 22.8° S
600 Ma 9,153 51.7° S 53.6° S 7.3° S 25.4° S

Data source: GPlates Web Service, model MULLER2022, CC BY 4.0. Download: CSV .

How the map is made

The GPlates Web Service rotates the coastlines with Müller et al. (2022), A tectonic-rules-based mantle reference frame since 1 billion years ago, Solid Earth 13. MULLER2019, used on the Pangea map, only reaches 250 million years ago, so this page uses the longer model. For the next steps, see the Gondwana map, the Pangea map and the supercontinents timeline. For today's plates, open the tectonic plates map.

Print this map Pangea puzzle. Cut out the continents and fit them back together

Glossary

Rodinia
A supercontinent that assembled about 1,000 to 870 million years ago and broke apart about 870 to 650 million years ago. Source
Supercontinent
A large landmass made of most or all of the continents joined together, such as Pangea. Source
Plate model
A set of plate outlines and rotations that moves features on each plate back to where they were at a past age. Source
Ma
Million years ago. Ma stands for megaannum, one million years. Source

All terms in the glossary

Rodinia FAQ

When did Rodinia exist?
In the MULLER2022 model it assembled from 1,000 to 870 million years ago, held together from 940 to 870 million years ago and broke up from about 870 to 650 million years ago.
Is this map exact?
No. Rocks this old are hard to place, and plate models for this time differ from each other. Read the map as one model's best fit, not a known fact.
Why are some places missing from older steps?
The model only moves crust it places at that age. Some pieces, such as the rocks under Sydney, have no position in the model at 600 million years ago or earlier, so they are not drawn.
How is Rodinia different from Pangea?
Rodinia came about 700 million years earlier and held the continents in a different arrangement. Pangea assembled by about 320 million years ago. See the supercontinents page for the full order.
Can I download the map data?
Yes. The GeoJSON under the map holds the coastlines for each step, from the GPlates Web Service under CC BY 4.0.

Sources: Müller et al. (2022), A tectonic-rules-based mantle reference frame since 1 billion years ago, Solid Earth 13; Merdith et al. (2021), Extending full-plate tectonic models into deep time, Earth-Science Reviews 214.