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Gondwana ( / ɡɒndˈwɑːnə /) [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. Gondwana was formed by the accretion of several cratons ...
The name "Pangaea" is derived from Ancient Greek pan (πᾶν, "all, entire, whole") and Gaia or Gaea (Γαῖα, " Mother Earth, land"). [4][9] The first to suggest that the continents were once joined and later separated may have been Abraham Ortelius in 1596. [10] The concept that the continents once formed a contiguous land mass was ...
Formed from three cratonic fragments - the Baltic Shield, Sarmatia and Volgo–Uralia. Formed part of Columbia, then Rodinia and Pannotia. Collided with Laurentia and Avalonia to form Laurussia. [1][4][2][10] Cathaysia. 1800. Continent. Fused with the Yangtze block to form the South China Craton during the Early Paleozoic.
References: Rubidge (2005), [1] Selden and Nudds (2011). [2] The Karoo Supergroup is the most widespread stratigraphic unit in Africa south of the Kalahari Desert. The supergroup consists of a sequence of units, mostly of nonmarine origin, deposited between the Late Carboniferous and Early Jurassic, a period of about 120 million years. [3]
In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth 's continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass. [1][2][3] However, some geologists use a different definition, "a grouping of formerly dispersed continents", which leaves room for interpretation and is easier to apply to Precambrian times. [4]
Approximate location of Mesoproterozoic (older than 1.3 Ga) cratons within South America–Africa in their Gondwana configuration (c. 550-130 Ma).. The Congo Craton, covered by the Palaeozoic-to-recent Congo Basin, is an ancient Precambrian craton that with four others (the Kaapvaal, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and West African cratons) makes up the modern continent of Africa.
It is the source of many of the older rocks of Western Europe, Atlantic Canada, and parts of the coastal United States. Avalonia is named for the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland. Avalonia developed as a volcanic arc on the northern margin of Gondwana. It eventually rifted off, becoming a drifting microcontinent.
The Great Escarpment is a major topographical feature in Africa that consists of steep slopes from the high central Southern African plateau [1] downward in the direction of the oceans that surround southern Africa on three sides. [2][3] While it lies predominantly within the borders of South Africa, in the east the escarpment extends northward ...