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.
It separated from Gondwana (beginning in the late Triassic period) during the breakup of Pangaea, drifting farther north after the split and finally broke apart with the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean c. 56 Mya. The name is a portmanteau of Laurentia and Eurasia. [2]
According to one reconstruction, [29] when Rodinia broke up, it split into three pieces: proto-Laurasia, proto-Gondwana, and the smaller Congo Craton. Proto-Laurasia and proto-Gondwana were separated by the Proto-Tethys Ocean. Proto-Laurasia split apart to form the continents of Laurentia, Siberia, and Baltica. Baltica moved to the east of ...
Taconic phase – Mountain-building period that affected most of New England – In the northeastern U.S. and Canada, during the Ordovician Period; Acadian phase – North American orogeny – In the eastern U.S., during the Silurian and Devonian Periods
The period was a time of great tectonic activity, as Laurasia and Gondwana drew closer together. The continent Euramerica (or Laurussia) was created in the early Devonian by the collision of Laurentia and Baltica, which rotated into the natural dry zone along the Tropic of Capricorn .
In the Neoproterozoic most of the Earth's landmasses were united in the Rodinia supercontinent.The majority of its bulk consisted of the landmass of Gondwana. [Note 1] Near the end of the Neoproterozoic, during the breakup of this supercontinent, Laurentia [Note 2] and Baltica [Note 3] rifted from the western (Amazonian craton) and northern (African) margins of Gondwana respectively.
A new study claims that the origin of bees is tens of millions of years older than previously believed.
Rodinia broke up in the Neoproterozoic, with its continental fragments reassembled to form Pannotia 633–573 Ma. In contrast with Pannotia, little is known about Rodinia's configuration and geodynamic history.