Gondwana
Sign in to saveGondwana ( ; ) 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.
AI overview
Gondwana was a massive supercontinent that existed in Earth's ancient past and has since broken apart into separate continents. Today, the pieces that were once joined together as Gondwana include South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, and several other landmasses, which together make up about two-thirds of all continental land on Earth.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Historical continent.name
- Gondwana
- Historical continent.image
- Gondwana 420 Ma.png
- Historical continent.caption
- Gondwana 420 million years ago (Late Silurian)
- Historical continent.formation_year
- 600 Mya
- Historical continent.type
- Supercontinent
- Historical continent.today
- AfricaNorth AmericaSouth AmericaAustraliaIndiaArabiaAntarcticaBalkans
- Historical continent.smaller_continents
- South AmericaAfricaAustraliaAntarcticaZealandia
- Historical continent.plate
- African PlateAntarctic PlateIndo-Australian PlateSouth American Plate
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
21 sectionsContents
- Name
- Formation
- Peri-Gondwana development: Paleozoic rifts and accretions
- Southwestern accretions
- Gondwana as part of Pangaea: Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic
- Break-up
- Mesozoic
- Opening of western Indian Ocean
- Opening of eastern Indian Ocean
- Opening of South Atlantic Ocean
- Early Andean orogeny
- Cenozoic
- Australia–Antarctica separation
- Biogeography
- Post-Cambrian diversification
- Modern diversification
- See also
- References
- Notes
- Sources
- External links
Gondwana ( ; ) 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 (large stable blocks of the Earth's crust), beginning with the East African Orogeny, the collision of India and Madagascar with East Africa, and culminating in with the overlapping Brasiliano and Kuunga orogenies, the collision of South America with Africa, and the addition of Australia and Antarctica, respectively. Eventually, Gondwana became the largest piece of continental crust of the Paleozoic Era, covering an area of some , about one-fifth of the Earth's surface. It fused with Laurasia during the Carboniferous to form Pangaea.