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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]
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).
The Karoo and Ferrar large igneous provinces (LIPs), in Southern Africa and Antarctica respectively, collectively known as the Karoo-Ferrar, Gondwana, [1] or Southeast African LIP, [2] are associated with the initial break-up of the Gondwana supercontinent at c..
The initiation of Gondwana breakup, and transform faulting along the Davie Fracture Zone, occurred in the Toarcian (about 182 million years ago) following the eruption of the Bouvet (Karoo) mantle plume. At this time East Gondwana, comprising the Antarctic, Madagascar, Indian, and Australian plates, began to separate from the African plate.
As the break-up of Gondwana began in the south, the opening of the Indian Ocean initiated the closure of the Neo-Tethys. [ 1 ] Cimmeria was an ancient continent , or, rather, a string of microcontinents or terranes , [ 3 ] that rifted from Gondwana in the Southern Hemisphere and was accreted to Eurasia in the Northern Hemisphere .
Pannotia was centred on the South Pole, hence its name. Pannotia (from Greek: pan-, "all", -nótos, "south"; meaning "all southern land"), also known as the Vendian supercontinent, Greater Gondwana, and the Pan-African supercontinent, was a relatively short-lived Neoproterozoic supercontinent that formed at the end of the Precambrian during the Pan-African orogeny (650–500 Ma), during the ...
During the Late Jurassic, Gondwana began breaking up, eventually pushing Africa and India north across the Tethys and opening up the Indian Ocean. Thus, for a period of 53 million years India retained a degree of isolation, 11 of which it was a complete island continent.