The closing of the Pacific brings the planet surface to the point before the seabeds spread. When all the continental shelves meet the sphere has an approximate diameter of 6,800 km, an expansion which appears to be caused by displacement from the 2,000 km wide object which entered the planet's interior through the Indian plate.

The original shields are separated at this stage only by the younger continental rock that lies between them. This is at the point before the beginning of the second expansion.

NOTE: This section deals only with the basic surface activity. The questions of interior and the cause of the second expansion, from the continental shelves to the present seabeds, will be dealt with separately. See: Full Sequence And Notes