Pangaea break-up, global maps (elliptical projections). The Pangaea supercontinent formed about 300 million years ago, in the late Paleozoic Era (around the start of the Permian Period), due to continental drift. At top, Pangea is shown as it appeared 250 million years ago (near the end of the Triassic Period) as it began to break up. This led to the formation of today's continents (bottom). The intervening maps show the Earth 175 million years ago (during the Jurassic), 125 million years ago (during the Early Cretaceous), and 80 million years ago (during the Late Cretaceous). For this illustration with labels, see image C046/3482.