The Carboniferous period, the majority of the time, was a very warm period. The sea levels were high, the continental masses smaller than today, and they were still not connected to one another. This led to a situation where there were multiple large seas surrounding the smaller, flatter, land masses, and one very large ocean. Because of the high sea levels and the positions and size of the continents, the oceans were able to easily dictate the climate throughout the land masses, resulting in a warm and wet period, where the flora and fauna flourished. At the end of this period the climate suddenly changed, and the main cause was the merging of the continents and the formation of Pangaea.
<span>An island can become a seamount only if there is native and active volcanic activity that is able to raise the landmass sufficiently above sealevel.</span>
