Gondwana

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Gondwana

Map of Pangaea with Laurasia and Gondwana. 200

mya
Historical continents

Type

Geological supercontinent
Africa
South America
Australia
Today part of
India
Arabia
Antarctica
Balkans
Atlantica
India
Smaller continents Australia
Antarctica
Zealandia
African Plate
Antarctic Plate
Tectonic plate
Indo-Australian Plate
South American Plate

In paleogeography, Gondwana /ndwn/,[1][2] also Gondwanaland, is the name given to the

more southerly of two supercontinents (the other being Laurasia) that were part of the Pangaea
supercontinent that existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago (Mya). Gondwana
formed prior to Pangaea, then became part of Pangaea, and finally broke up after the breakup of
Pangaea. Gondwana is believed to have sutured between about 570 and 510 Mya, thus joining
East Gondwana to West Gondwana.[3] It separated from Laurasia 200-180 Mya (the midMesozoic era) during the breakup of Pangaea, drifting farther south after the split.[4]
Gondwana included most of the landmasses in today's Southern Hemisphere, including
Antarctica, South America, Africa, Madagascar, and the Australian continent, as well as the
Arabian Peninsula and the Indian Subcontinent, which have now moved entirely into the
Northern Hemisphere.
The continent of Gondwana was named by Austrian scientist Eduard Suess, after the Gondwana
region of central northern India (from Sanskrit gondavana "forest of the Gonds". The name had
been used in a geological context, first by H.B. Medlicott in 1872.[5] from which the Gondwana
sedimentary sequences (Permian-Triassic) are also described.
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 Proteaceae family of plants known only from southern South America, South
Africa, Australia, and New Zealand is considered to have a "Gondwanan distribution". This
pattern is often considered to indicate an archaic, or relict, lineage.

Contents

1 Formation

2 Pangaea

3 Climate

4 Breakup
o 4.1 Mesozoic
o 4.2 Cenozoic

5 See also

6 Notes

7 Further reading

8 External links

Formation

Western Gondwana Orogens and Kuungan Orogens

The assembly of Gondwana was a protracted process. Several orogenies led to its final
amalgamation 550500 Mya at the end of the Ediacaran, and into the Cambrian.[3] These include
the Brasiliano Orogeny, the East African Orogeny, the Malagasy Orogeny, and the Kuunga
Orogeny. The final stages of Gondwanan assembly overlapped with the opening of the Iapetus
Ocean between Laurentia and western Gondwana. During this interval, the Cambrian explosion
occurred.
Gondwana was formed from the following earlier continents and microcontinents, among others,
colliding in the following orogenies:

Azania: much of central Madagascar, the Horn of Africa and parts of Yemen and Arabia
(Named by Collins and Pisarevsky (2005): "Azania" was a Greek name for the East
African coast.)

The CongoTanzaniaBangweulu Block of central Africa;

Neoproterozoic India: India, the Antongil Block in far eastern Madagascar, the
Seychelles, and the Napier and Rayner Complexes in East Antarctica

The Australia/Mawson continent: Australia west of Adelaide and a large extension into
East Antarctica

Other blocks which helped to form Argentina and some surrounding regions, including a
piece transferred from Laurentia when the west edge of Gondwana scraped against
southeast Laurentia in the Ordovician.[6][7] This is the Famatinian block (named after
Famatina in northwest Argentina) and it formerly continued the line of the Appalachians
southwards.[8]

Reconstruction showing final stages of assembly of Gondwana, 550 Mya

One of the major sites of Gondwanan amalgamation was the East African Orogeny (Stern, 1994),
where these[which?] two major orogenies are superimposed. The East African Orogeny at about
650630 Mya affected a large part of Arabia, north-eastern Africa, East Africa, and Madagascar.
Collins and Windley (2002) propose that in this orogeny, Azania collided with the Congo
TanzaniaBangweulu Block.[9]
The later Malagasy orogeny at about 550515 Mya affected Madagascar, eastern East Africa and
southern India. In it, Neoproterozoic India collided with the already combined Azania and
CongoTanzaniaBangweulu Block, suturing along the Mozambique Belt.[10]
At the same time, in the Kuunga Orogeny Neoproterozoic India collided with the
Australia/Mawson continent.

Pangaea
Other large continental masses, including the core cratons of North America (the Canadian
Shield or Laurentia), Europe (Baltica), and Siberia, were added over time to form the
supercontinent Pangaea by Permian time. When Pangaea broke up (mostly during the Jurassic),
two large masses, Gondwana and Laurasia, were formed.

The reformed Gondwanan continent was not precisely the same as that which had existed before
Pangaea formed; for example, most of Florida and southern Georgia and Alabama is underlain
by rocks that were originally part of Gondwana, but that were left attached to North America
when Pangaea broke apart.[11]

Climate
During the late Paleozoic, Gondwana extended from a point at or near the South Pole to near the
Equator. Across much of Gondwana, the climate was mild. During the Mesozoic, the world was
on average considerably warmer than it is today. Gondwana was then host to a huge variety of
flora and fauna for many millions of years. The laurel forest of Australia, New Caledonia, and
New Zealand have a number of other related species of the laurissilva de Valdivia, through the
connection of the Antarctic flora as gymnosperms and deciduous angiosperm Nothofagus.
Corynocarpus laevigatus is called the bay of New Zealand, Laurelia novae-zelandiae belongs to
the same genus Laurelia. The sempervirens tree niaouli grows in Australia, New Caledonia, and
New Zealand.
New Caledonia and New Zealand ecoregions became separated from Australia by continental
drift 85 million years ago. The islands still retain plants that originated in Gondwana and spread
to the Southern Hemisphere continents later. However, strong evidence exists of glaciation
during the Carboniferous to Permian time, especially in South Africa.

Breakup
Mesozoic

The Nothofagus plant genus illustrates Gondwanan distribution, having descended from the
supercontinent and existing in current day Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and the
Southern Cone. Fossils have also recently been found in Antarctica.[12]
Gondwana began to break up in the early Jurassic (about 184 Mya) accompanied by massive
eruptions of basalt lava, as East Gondwana, comprising Antarctica, Madagascar, India, and
Australia, began to separate from Africa. South America began to drift slowly westward from
Africa as the South Atlantic Ocean opened, beginning about 130 Mya during the Early
Cretaceous, and resulting in open marine conditions by 110 Mya. East Gondwana then began to
separate about 120 Mya when India began to move northward.

The Madagascar block, and a narrow remnant microcontinent presently occupied by the
Seychelles Islands, were broken off India; elements of this breakup nearly coincide with the
CretaceousPaleogene extinction event. The IndiaMadagascarSeychelles separations appear to
coincide with the eruption of the Deccan basalts, whose eruption site may survive as the Runion
hotspot.
Australia began to separate from Antarctica perhaps 80 Mya (Late Cretaceous), but sea-floor
spreading between them became most active about 40 Mya during the Eocene epoch of the
Paleogene Period.
New Zealand probably separated from Antarctica between 130 and 85 Mya.

Cenozoic
As the age of mammals commenced, the continent of Australia-New Guinea began gradually to
separate and move north (55 Mya), rotating about its axis to begin with, and thus retaining some
connection with the remainder of Gondwana for about 10 million years.
About 45 Mya, the Indian Plate collided with Asia, buckling the crust and forming the
Himalayas. At about the same time, the southernmost part of Australia (modern Tasmania)
finally separated from Antarctica, letting ocean currents flow between the two continents for the
first time. Antarctica became cooler and Australia became drier because ocean currents circling
Antarctica were no longer directed around northern Australia into the subtropics.
The separation of South America from West Antarctica some time during the Oligocene, perhaps
30 Mya, also caused climate changes. Immediately before this separation, South America and
East Antarctica were not connected directly. However, the many microplates of the Antarctic
Peninsula remained near southern South America, acting as "stepping stones" and allowing
continued biological interchange and stopped oceanic current circulation. When the Drake
Passage opened, there was no longer a barrier to force the cold waters of the Southern Ocean not
to be exchanged with warmer tropical water. Instead, a cold circumpolar current developed and
Antarctica became what it is today: a frigid continent that locks up much of the world's fresh
water as ice. Sea temperatures dropped by almost 10C, and the global climate became much
colder.
By about 15 Mya, the collision between New Guinea (on the leading edge of the Australian
Plate) and the southwestern part of the Pacific Plate pushed up the New Guinea Highlands,
causing a rain shadow effect which drastically changed weather patterns in Australia, drying it
out.
Later, South America was connected to North America via the Isthmus of Panama, cutting off a
circulation of warm water and thereby making the Arctic colder[citation needed], as well as allowing
the Great American Faunal Interchange.
The Red Sea and East African Rift are modern examples of continental rifting.

See also

Continental drift, the movement of the Earth's continents relative to each other

Geology of the Australasian ecozone

Gondwana Rainforests of Australia

The Great Escarpment of Southern Africa

Gondwana University

Plate tectonics, a theory which describes the large-scale motions of Earth's lithosphere

South Polar dinosaurs, which proliferated during the Early Cretaceous (145100 Mya)
while Australia was still linked to Antarctica to form East Gondwana

Tarkine wilderness

Notes
1.
"gondwana". Dictionary.com. Lexico Publishing Group. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
"Gondwanaland". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
Buchan, Craig (November 710, 2004). Paper No. 207-8 - Linking Subduction Initiation,
Accretionary Orogenesis And Supercontinent Assembly. 2004 Denver Annual Meeting.
Geological Society of America. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
Houseman, Greg. "Dispersal of Gondwanaland". University of Leeds. Retrieved 21 Oct
2008.
Eduard Suess, Das Antlitz der Erde (The Face of the Earth), vol. 1 (Leipzig, Germany: G.
Freytag, 1885), page 768. From p. 768: "Wir nennen es Gondwna-Land, nach der gemeinsamen
alten Gondwna-Flora, " (We name it Gondwna-Land, after the common ancient flora of
Gondwna )
Rapalini, AE (2001). The Assembly of Southern South America in the Late Proterozoic
and Paleozoic: Some Paleomagnetic Clues. Spring Meeting 2001. American Geophysical Union.
Retrieved 2010-01-18.
Rapalini, AE (1998). "Syntectonic magnetization of the mid-Palaeozoic Sierra Grande
Formation: further constraints on the tectonic evolution of Patagonia". Journal of the Geological
Society 155 (1): pp. 105114. doi:10.1144/gsjgs.155.1.0105.
http://sp.lyellcollection.org/content/142/1/219.abstract Laurentia-Gondwana collision: the
origin of the Famatinian-Appalachian Orogenic Belt (a review)

 Collins, Alan S; Windley, Brian F (May 2002). "The Tectonic Evolution of Central and
Northern Madagascar and Its Place in the Final Assembly of Gondwana". The Journal of
Geology 110 (3): pp. 325339. Bibcode:2002JG....110..325C. doi:10.1086/339535.
Grantham, G.H.; Maboko, M.; Eglington, B.M. (2003). "A review of the evolution of the
Mozambique Belt and implications for the amalgamation and dispersal of Rodinia and
Gondwana". Proterozoic East Gondwana: supercontinent assembly and breakup. Geological
Society. pp. 417418. ISBN 1-86239-125-4.
"Gondwana Remnants In Alabama And Georgia: Uchee Is An 'Exotic' Peri-Gondwanan
Arc Terrane, Not Part Of Laurentia". ScienceDaily. February 4, 2008. Retrieved October 2011.
1.

H.M. Li and Z.K. Zhou (2007) Fossil nothofagaceous leaves from the Eocene
of western Antarctica and their bearing on the origin, dispersal and systematics of
Nothofagus. Science in China. 50(10): 1525-1535.

Further reading

Cattermole, Peter John (2000). Building Planet Earth: Five Billion Years of Earth
History. London: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-58278-0.
OCLC 317422973.

Collins, Alan S; Pisarevsky, Sergei A (August 2005). "Amalgamating eastern Gondwana:

The evolution of the Circum-Indian Orogens". Earth-Science Reviews 71 (34): pp. 229
270. Bibcode:2005ESRv...71..229.. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2005.02.004.

Cowen, Richard (2000). History of Life (3rd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Science.
ISBN 978-0-632-04444-3. OCLC 41572551.

Encarnacion, J; Fleming, Thomas H.; Elliot, David H.; Eales, Hugh V. (1996).
"Synchronous emplacement of Ferrar and Karoo dolerites and the early break-up of
Gondwana". Geology 24 (6): pp. 535538. Bibcode:1996Geo....24..535E.
doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1996)024<0535:SEOFAK>2.3.CO;2.

Lowrie, William (1997). Fundamentals of Geophysics. Cambridge ; New York:

Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-46164-1. OCLC 35651121. Also ISBN
978-0-521-46728-5.

Meert, JG (2003-02-06). "A synopsis of events related to the assembly of eastern

Gondwana". Tectonophysics 363 (1): pp. 140. Bibcode:2003Tectp.362....1M.
doi:10.1016/S0040-1951(02)00629-7.

Scheffler, K; Hoernes, S; Schwark, L (July 2003). "Global changes during

CarboniferousPermian glaciation of Gondwana: Linking polar and equatorial climate
evolution by geochemical proxies". Geology 33 (7): pp. 605608.
Bibcode:2003Geo....31..605S. doi:10.1130/00917613(2003)031<0605:GCDCGO>2.0.CO;2.

Stern, RJ (May 1994). "ARC Assembly and Continental Collision in the Neoproterozoic
East African Orogen: Implications for the Consolidation of Gondwanaland". Annual
Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 22: pp. 319351.
Bibcode:1994AREPS..22..319S. doi:10.1146/annurev.ea.22.050194.001535.

External links

Animation showing the dispersal of Gondwanaland

Graphical subjects dealing with Tectonics and Paleontology

Gondwana Reconstruction and Dispersion

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