Pangaea is the name given to a former super continent that was made up of what is now north and South America, Africa and Australia. Pangaea came together for the same reasons that plates get together today... the earth's surface is made up of about a dozen or so plates and these plates are all in relative motion over the earth's surface.

About 200 million years ago, the giant continent of Pangaea was formed due to mutual collisions between smaller continental areas. The energy that drives this comes from the decay of radioactive elements deep within the earth's mantle. This heat drives the dynamical process of convection; the plates are carried around due to convection within the earth's mantle.