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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 Cretaceous is characterized by warm global temperatures caused by the high amounts of carbon dioxide and possibly methane greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This caused a lack of permanent ice coverage in the polar regions, though the carbon dioxide level dropped between 115 and 66 million years ago (mya), possibly allowing some permanent ice cover.
Also, New Zealand has vestiges of ancient temperate rain forests with plant species, such as giant club mosses, tree ferns and Nothofagus trees, dating from the time when the Zealandia subcontinent split off from Gondwana. New Zealand grasslands are dominated by vast spreadings of tussock grass fed upon by the native ground parrots. Most of New ...
The cartography of New Zealand is the history of surveying and creation of maps of New Zealand. Surveying in New Zealand began with the arrival of Abel Tasman in the mid 17th century. [ 1 ] Cartography and surveying have developed in incremental steps since that time till the integration of New Zealand into a global system based on GPS and the ...
New Zealand is the largest part of Zealandia that is above sea level, followed by New Caledonia. Mapping of Zealandia concluded in 2023. [ 14 ] With a total area of approximately 4,900,000 km 2 (1,900,000 sq mi), [ 6 ] Zealandia is substantially larger than any features termed microcontinents and continental fragments.
The natural history of New Zealand began when the landmass Zealandia – today an almost entirely submerged mass of continental crust with New Zealand and a few other islands peaking above sea level – broke away from the supercontinent Gondwana in the Cretaceous period. Before this time, Zealandia shared its past with Australia and Antarctica.
Its flood basalt mostly covers South Africa and Antarctica, but portions extend further into southern Africa and into South America, India, Australia and New Zealand. [ 3 ] 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 ...
Location of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean circa ~250 million years ago Location of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean circa 380 million years ago [1]. The Paleo-Tethys or Palaeo-Tethys Ocean was an ocean located along the northern margin of the paleocontinent Gondwana that started to open during the Middle Cambrian, grew throughout the Paleozoic, and finally closed during the Late Triassic; existing for about ...