Continental Drift Map

Continental drift is the slow movement of the continents across Earth's surface. This map steps through the MULLER2019 plate model every 20 million years, from 240 million years ago to today.

AB Names

Data source: GPlates Web Service, model MULLER2019, CC BY 4.0. Download: GeoJSON , CSV .

Last updated 11 October 2026

What the map shows

Each step shows where today's continents sat at that age , as rebuilt by the MULLER2019 plate model . The default step is 200 million years ago, when the continents were still joined in Pangea. Step forward to watch the Atlantic open, India cross the Tethys and Australia leave Antarctica. The names sit on fixed points of each continent, moved to each age by the same model.

Key facts

The rocks under Natal in Brazil and Lagos in Nigeria were 437 km apart 120 million years ago in the model, and are 4,496 km apart today. That is an average of about 3.4 cm a year as the South Atlantic opened.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge spreads at about 2.5 cm a year on average. Over the past 100 to 200 million years this turned a narrow inlet between Europe, Africa and the Americas into the Atlantic Ocean. USGS, This Dynamic Earth: Understanding plate motions
New York and Lisbon sat 2,160 km apart 200 million years ago and are 5,423 km apart today.
Delhi lay at 45.1° S 240 million years ago and at 24.7° S 80 million years ago. Today it is at 28.6° N, as India moved north and hit Asia.
About 80 million years ago India was roughly 6,400 km south of Asia, and it collided with Asia about 40 to 50 million years ago. USGS, The Himalayas: Two continents collide
Sydney sat at 54.9° S 60 million years ago, close to Antarctica, and is at 33.9° S today.

Distances and old latitudes, age by age

Present-day points moved back in time with the model. Distances are great-circle distances between the points at each age. Latitudes show how far north or south each city's rocks lay. Sort by any column.

Reconstructed distances and latitudes, MULLER2019
Age	Natal to Lagos (km)	New York to Lisbon (km)	Delhi	Sydney	London
Today	4,496	5,423	28.6° N	33.9° S	51.5° N
20 Ma	3,775	4,905	22.0° N	43.4° S	49.7° N
40 Ma	2,940	4,477	13.9° N	52.6° S	47.9° N
60 Ma	2,227	3,924	4.4° S	54.9° S	45.4° N
80 Ma	1,433	3,463	24.7° S	53.6° S	40.4° N
100 Ma	673	3,078	34.8° S	54.0° S	33.2° N
120 Ma	437	2,711	42.8° S	56.3° S	28.5° N
140 Ma	462	2,377	46.4° S	61.2° S	23.6° N
160 Ma	466	2,265	44.5° S	66.3° S	21.9° N
180 Ma	466	2,212	44.0° S	69.6° S	20.1° N
200 Ma	465	2,160	45.1° S	69.5° S	18.3° N
220 Ma	466	2,160	45.9° S	62.8° S	13.5° N
240 Ma	467	2,160	45.1° S	60.2° S	12.3° N

Data source: GPlates Web Service, model MULLER2019, CC BY 4.0. Download: CSV .

How the map is made

For each age, the GPlates Web Service rotates the model's coastlines to their old positions. The model is described in Müller et al. (2019), A global plate model including lithospheric deformation along major rifts and orogens since the Triassic, Tectonics 38. It covers the time since the Triassic, about the last 250 million years. Shapes are today's coastlines, so the land on each frame is a guide to position, not to the ancient shoreline.

The reasons we know the continents moved are on the continental drift evidence page. For the supercontinents before Pangea, see the supercontinents timeline, the Gondwana map and the Rodinia map. For the plates as they are now, open the tectonic plates map or plate motion.

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

Glossary

Ma: Million years ago. Ma stands for megaannum, one million years. 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
Supercontinent: A large landmass made of most or all of the continents joined together, such as Pangea. Source
Seafloor spreading: New ocean crust forms at the crest of a mid-ocean ridge and moves away from it, so the sea floor gets older away from the ridge. Source

All terms in the glossary

Continental drift FAQ

What is continental drift?

The idea that the continents move across the globe. Alfred Wegener presented it as a full theory in 1912. It was later explained by plate tectonics: the continents ride on plates that move a few centimeters a year.

How far back does this map go?

To 240 million years ago, in steps of 20 million years. The MULLER2019 model covers about the last 250 million years. For older times, see the Rodinia and Gondwana maps, which use the MULLER2022 model.

Are the coastlines on the map the real ancient coastlines?

No. The model moves today's coastlines back to where they were. Ancient seas covered parts of the continents and the shapes of the land were different, so read the map as positions, not old shorelines.

How fast do the continents move?

A few centimeters a year. USGS gives about 2.5 cm a year for the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. In this model, South America and Africa moved apart at about 3.4 cm a year on average over the last 120 million years.

Can I use the map data?

Yes. The GeoJSON and CSV downloads under the map come from the GPlates Web Service and are under CC BY 4.0. Keep the credit line when you reuse them.

Sources: USGS, This Dynamic Earth: Understanding plate motions; USGS, This Dynamic Earth: Historical perspective; Müller et al. (2019), A global plate model including lithospheric deformation along major rifts and orogens since the Triassic, Tectonics 38.