Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Gondwana (/ ɡ ɒ n d ˈ w ɑː n ə /) [1] was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent.The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Zealandia, Arabia, and the Indian subcontinent.
The Gondwana supercontinent began to break up in the Middle Jurassic, about 167 million years ago. At that time, East Gondwana, comprising Antarctica, Madagascar, India, and Australia, began to separate from Africa. East Gondwana then began to separate about 115–120 million years ago when India began to move northward. [5]
Wegener's continental drift hypotheses is a logical consequence of: the theory of thrusting (alpine geology), the isostasy, the continents forms resulting from the supercontinent Gondwana break up, the past and present-day life forms on both sides of the Gondwana continent margins, and the Permo-Carboniferous moraine deposits in South Gondwana.
Karoo-Ferrar formed just prior to the breakup of Gondwana in the Lower Jurassic epoch, about 183 million years ago; [4] this timing corresponds to the early Toarcian anoxic event and the Pliensbachian-Toarcian extinction. [5] It covered about 3 x 10 6 km 2. [6]
During the early breakup of Gondwana and associated continental rifting, the Patagonian landmass underwent large-scale rotations. Paleomagnetic data from late Jurassic-early Cretaceous rocks in the southern portion of the North Patagonian Massif indicate that clockwise rotation of up to 30 degrees occurred in that area during the Early ...
Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-06-18 (not available without registration (free)) Grantham, G.H.; Maboko, M.; Eglington, B.M. (2003). "A review of the evolution of the Mozambique Belt and implications for the amalgamation and dispersal of Rodinia and Gondwana". Proterozoic East Gondwana: supercontinent assembly and breakup. Geological ...
Break-up of Gondwana Map of Earth around 85 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous The second major phase in the break-up of Pangaea began in the Early Cretaceous (150–140 Ma), when Gondwana separated into multiple continents (Africa, South America, India, Antarctica, and Australia).
Laurasia and Gondwana were equal in size but had distinct geological histories. Gondwana was assembled before the formation of Pangaea, but the assembly of Laurasia occurred during and after the formation of the supercontinent. These differences resulted in different patterns of basin formation and transport of sediments.