English edit

Etymology edit

archi- +‎ continent

Noun edit

archicontinent (plural archicontinents)

  1. (geology, rare) A continental land mass that was present in geologic time
    • 1988, Miguel A. Gonzalez, “Late Pleistocene and Holocene Coastal Behaviour front 33° to 40° South, Argentine Republic”, in Journal of Coastal Research, page 59:
      Finally, corresponding to the "Antarctic Archicontinent" that was postulated by von IHERING (1890) and by AMEGHINO (1891) on the basis of palaeontological evidence, RAMOS (1984) has recently presented a reactivated hypothesis.
    • 2015, Lin Yu-xiang, “Lithofacies Paleogeography Characteristics of Early Ordovician in the Eastern Part of North China Platform”, in Journal of Earth Sciences and Environment:
      The archicontinent marginal sedimentary transits to carbonate platform sedimentary from south to north, and the restricted platform and supratidal dolomitic flat develop.

Usage notes edit

  • Used predominantly by Chinese authors.

Derived terms edit