Epsiodes of extremely rapid (≥ 20 cm yr-1) plate motion for large continents are known during the Late Neoproterozoic to Middle Cambrian time period. A number of mechanisms were proposed to explain this rapid motion including true polar wander (TPW), inertial interchange true polar wander (IITPW), warmer mantle conditions (WMC) or a combination of TPW and WMC. The palaeomagnetic data, on which the rapid motion of Laurentia and Gondwana are based, have a poor resolution during the intervals critical to the TPW/IITPW analysis. Here we offer the possibility that the formation of Rodinia created a thermal blanketing effect resulting in a warmer mantle beneath Rodinia and the triggering of lower mantle plumes on a 200-400 Ma time scale. These plumes and warmer conditions provided increased thermal buoyancy and tensional stresses within the supercontinent leading to its breakup. The lower mantle plumes acted in concert with the thick tectosphere to enhance plate motions and drive the continents off the dynamic topographic highs (HOG hypothesis). The resulting motion of Laurentia away from the geoid high toward a region of colder mantle resulted in the Middle Cambrian transgression. On the other hand, the supercontinent of Gondwana was assembled shortly after this breakup and maintained its effectiveness as a mantle insolator. Due to the continued thermal buoyancy beneath Gondwana, it remained largely emergent during the Paleozoic. Long term subduction and continued mantle insolation by Gondwana may have led to inertial instabilities triggering an episode of Paleozoic TPW. The breakup of Gondwana might have been triggered by the development of mantle plumes beneath the supercontinent on a time scale consistent with proposed geodynamic models.