Which of the following continents is also known as Gondwanaland?
i) India ii) Europe iii) South America iv) Australia Gondwanaland also referred to as Gondwana was a supercontinent that broke 180 million years ago. The Gondwanaland supercontinent included India, Australia, South Africa and South America as one single landmass.
What is the history of the Gondwana continent?
Gondwana was an ancient supercontinent that broke up about 180 million years ago. The continent eventually split into landmasses we recognize today: Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica, the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian Peninsula.
Why is Gondwana not considered a supercontinent?
Gondwana was not considered a supercontinent by the earliest definition, since the landmasses of Baltica, Laurentia, and Siberia were separated from it. It is also commonly called Gondwanaland, a tautology because Gondwana is originally 'Land of the Gonds '. It was formed by the accretion of several cratons.
What countries are part of Gondwana?
In addition to Australia, Antarctica, India, Arabia, Africa, and South America, Silurian Gondwana also included smaller pieces of Florida, southern Europe, and the Cimmerian terranes—namely, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Tibet, and the Malay Peninsula—on….
Which continents did Gondwana belong to?
The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, the Indian Sub continent, Zealandia, and Arabia .
Who named the continent of Gondwana?
The continent of Gondwana was named by the Austrian scientist Eduard Suess, after the Gondwana region of central India which is derived from Sanskrit for "forest of the Gonds ". The name had been previously used in a geological context, first by H.B. Medlicott in 1872, from which the Gondwana sedimentary sequences ( Permian - Triassic) are also described.
Which two supercontinents formed during the Carboniferous?
Main article: Pangaea. Gondwana and Laurasia formed the Pangaea supercontinent during the Carboniferous. Pangaea began to break up in the Mid-Jurassic when the Central Atlantic opened. In the western end of Pangaea, the collision between Gondwana and Laurasia closed the Rheic and Palaeo-Tethys oceans.
What is the name of the belt that connects Africa and South America?
One of those orogenic belts, the Mozambique Belt, formed 800 to 650 Ma and was originally interpreted as the suture between East (India, Madagascar, Antarctica, and Australia) and West Gondwana (Africa and South America).
What is the meaning of "Gondwana"?
The adjective "Gondwanan" is in common use in biogeography when referring to patterns of distribution of living organisms, typically when the organisms are restricted to two or more of the now-discontinuous regions that were once part of Gondwana, including the Antar ctic flora. For example, the plant family Proteaceae, known from all continents in the Southern Hemisphere, has a "Gondwanan distribution" and is often described as an archaic, or relict, lineage. The distributions in the Proteaceae is, nevertheless, the result of both Gondwanan rafting and later oceanic dispersal.
When did Australia and Mawson separate?
The continent Australia/ Mawson was still separated from India, eastern Africa, and Kalahari by c. 600 Ma, when most of western Gondwana had already been amalgamated. By c. 550 Ma, India had reached its Gondwanan position, which initiated the Kuunga orogeny (also known as the Pinjarra orogeny).
Where did the terranes come from?
A large number of terranes were accreted to Eurasia during Gondwana's existence but the Cambrian or Precambrian origin of many of these terranes remains uncertain. For example, some Palaeozoic terranes and microcontinents that now make up Central Asia, often called the "Kazakh" and "Mongolian terranes", were progressively amalgamated into the continent Kazakhstania in the Late Silurian. Whether these blocks originated on the shores of Gondwana is not known.
What is the name of the supercontinent that was once known as Gondwana?
India: Relief. …ancient southern-hemispheric supercontinent known as Gondwana, or Gondwana land). When the two finally collided (approximately 50 million years ago), the northern edge of the Indian-Australian Plate was thrust under the Eurasian Plate at a low angle.
Where is Gondwanaland located?
The name Gondwanaland was coined by the Austrian geologist Eduard Suess in reference to Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic formations in the Gondwana region of central India, which are similar to formations of the same age on Southern Hemisphere continents.
What was the name of the landmass that Alexander Du Toit created?
He envisioned a single great landmass, Pangaea (or Pangea ). Gondwana comprised the southern half of this supercontinent. The concept of Gondwana was expanded upon by Alexander Du Toit, a South African geologist, in his 1937 book Our Wandering Continents.
What continent was the Silurian period?
Learn More in these related Britannica articles: Silurian Period: Gondwana. The vast supercontinent of Gondwana was centred over the South Pole. In addition to Australia, Antarctica, India, Arabia, Africa, and South America, Silurian Gondwana also included smaller pieces of Florida, southern Europe, and the Cimmerian terranes—namely, Turkey, Iran, ...
What is the ancient supercontinent?
ancient supercontinent. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Gondwana, also called Gondwanaland, ancient supercontinent that incorporated present-day South America, Africa, Arabia, ...
Which continent was located over the South Pole?
Silurian Period: Gondwana. The vast supercontinent of Gondwana was centred over the South Pole. In addition to Australia, Antarctica, India, Arabia,... The matching shapes of the coastlines of western Africa and eastern South America were first noted by Francis Bacon in 1620 as maps of Africa and the New World first became available.
When did Gondwana break up?
The breakup of Gondwana occurred in stages. Some 180 million years ago, in the Jurassic Period, the western half of Gondwana (Africa and South America) separated from the eastern half (Madagascar, India, Australia, and Antarctica). The South Atlantic Ocean opened about 140 million years ago as Africa separated from South America.
Overview
Name
The continent of Gondwana was named by the Austrian scientist Eduard Suess, after the Gondwana region of central India which is derived from Sanskrit for "forest of the Gonds". The name had been previously used in a geological context, first by H.B. Medlicott in 1872, from which the Gondwana sedimentary sequences (Permian-Triassic) are also described.
The term "Gondwanaland" is preferred by some scientists in order to make a clear distinction between the regio…
Formation
The assembly of Gondwana was a protracted process during the Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic, which however remains incompletely understood because of the lack of paleo-magnetic data. Several orogenies, collectively known as the Pan-African orogeny, led to the amalgamation of most of the continental fragments of a much older supercontinent, Rodinia. One of those orogenic belts, the Mozambique Belt, formed 800 to 650 Ma and was originally interpreted as the suture between East (India, Madagascar, Antarctica, and Australia) and West Gondwa…
Peri-Gondwana development: Paleozoic rifts and accretions
A large number of terranes were accreted to Eurasia during Gondwana's existence but the Cambrian or Precambrian origin of many of these terranes remains uncertain. For example, some Palaeozoic terranes and microcontinents that now make up Central Asia, often called the "Kazakh" and "Mongolian terranes", were progressively amalgamated into the continent Kazakhstania in the Late Silurian. Whether these blocks originated on the shores of Gondwana is not known.
Gondwana as part of Pangaea: Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic
Gondwana and Laurasia formed the Pangaea supercontinent during the Carboniferous. Pangaea began to break up in the Mid-Jurassic when the Central Atlantic opened.
In the western end of Pangaea, the collision between Gondwana and Laurasia closed the Rheic and Palaeo-Tethys oceans. The obliquity of this closure resulted in the docking of some northern terranes in the Marathon, Ouachita, Alleghanian, and Variscan orogenies, respectively. Southern terranes, such as Chortis and Oaxaca, on the other ha…
Break-up
Antarctica, the centre of the supercontinent, shared boundaries with all other Gondwana continents and the fragmentation of Gondwana propagated clockwise around it. The break-up was the result of the eruption of the Karoo-Ferrar igneous province, one of the Earth's most extensive large igneous provinces (LIP) c. 200 to 170 Ma, but the oldest magnetic anomalies between South America, Africa, and Antarctica are found in what is now the southern Weddell Sea where initial break-up occurred during the Jurassic c. 180 to 160 Ma.
Biogeography
The adjective "Gondwanan" is in common use in biogeography when referring to patterns of distribution of living organisms, typically when the organisms are restricted to two or more of the now-discontinuous regions that were once part of Gondwana, including the Antarctic flora. For example, the plant family Proteaceae, known from all continents in the Southern Hemisphere, has a "Gondwanan distribution" and is often described as an archaic, or relict, lineage. The distributions in the Proteaceae is, nevertheless, the result of both Gondwanan rafting and late…
See also
• Continental drift, the movement of the Earth's continents relative to each other
• Australasian realm
• Gondwana Rainforests of Australia
• The Great Escarpment of Southern Africa