The Evolution of Gondwana into the Continents We Know Today

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Sometimes great scientific discoveries start with something as simple as looking at a world map and letting your imagination roam. For example, notice how Africa and South America appear to have once been much closer together, despite the vast ocean between them now. Likewise, it's easy to spot how Madagascar seems to slot perfectly into a gap along Africa’s eastern edge or how the Middle East looks like it’s detaching from Africa, much like a corner being pulled off a hot cookie. A third-grader with a map in hand could easily infer that the Earth's land masses have clearly been on the move.

The solution to the puzzle, if you're curious, is Gondwanaland, or Gondwana as it is also known.

"The concept of Gondwana — the merging of the southern continents — emerged from a straightforward observation of the perfect jigsaw-like fit between South America and Africa, along with the shared plant and animal species across the lands that formed Gondwana," explains Joseph Meert, a professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Florida, in an email interview.

The theory of Gondwana was proposed long before the mechanisms behind it were understood. The key, of course, turned out to be plate tectonics, a theory that only began gaining significant traction in the mid-20th century. But it was Eduard Seuss, a 19th-century Austrian geologist, who gave the supercontinent a name in his 1883 book, "The Face of the Earth," the first volume of which was published that year. Although Seuss didn’t introduce entirely new ideas, he skillfully compiled and synthesized existing research to conclude that the southern continents — South America, Africa, Arabia, India, Sri Lanka, and Madagascar (with Australia and Antarctica added later) — were once connected. This theory was based on two points: (1) the striking fit of the continents and (2) the shared geology and fossils, particularly those of an extinct tree called Glossopteris.

While we have a much clearer understanding of how Gondwana formed, the process remains incredibly complex, with at least one peer-reviewed journal dedicated to studying this supercontinent. That said, we can be fairly confident about the following:

Gondwana Wasn't Built In a Day

The formation of Gondwana was a prolonged process, likely involving three significant mountain-building episodes driven by the shifting of the Earth's tectonic plates.

"Between approximately 650 and 550 million years ago, various sections of Africa and South America collided along an ancient mountain range known as the Brasiliano Belt," explains Meert. "Slightly older, but overlapping with the Brasiliano — from 750 to 650 million years ago — is the East African Orogen, or Mozambique Belt, which resulted from the collision of East Africa with Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka, and part of East Antarctica. The final collision occurred along the Kuunga Orogen, between these landmasses and the rest of Antarctica and Australia, between 580 and 530 million years ago."

Thus, it was hundreds of millions of years of extremely gradual continental crashes that created the preliminary version of Gondwana — later, around 300 million years ago, other landmasses would merge with it to form the colossal landmass we now call Pangea.

However, the one giant supercontinent couldn’t stay intact forever, and between 280 and 200 million years ago, Pangea began to break apart as magma pushed upward from below, creating rifts that would eventually become ocean floors. As Pangea fractured, the northern section was pushed upwards, forming the continent of Laurasia, while Gondwana drifted southward, eventually splitting into the continents we recognize today.

Life On Gondwana

During its early days as a supercontinent, between 550 and 485 million years ago, Gondwana was home to some of the first complex life forms, including trilobites and brachiopods. As time went on and Gondwana persisted into the Jurassic Period, a significant amount of plant and animal evolution took place.

"Gondwana holds crucial evidence for evolutionary changes in the first complex animals, as well as the emergence of the first fish, amphibians, and reptiles," says Meert. "The most notable fossils include the Gondwana flora, such as the Glossopteris fern, a freshwater reptile known as Mesosaurus, and a land-dwelling reptile called Lystrosaurus."

The Climate of Gondwana

Gondwana remained a unified landmass for more than 300 million years. Due to its enormous size — spanning 39,000,000 square miles (100,000,000 square kilometers) — and the shifting of continents throughout this period, Gondwana experienced a wide variety of climates.

"During the Cambrian period, when Gondwana first took shape, both the Earth and Gondwana were experiencing a greenhouse effect," explains Meert. "By the late Ordovician, around 450 million years ago, Gondwana was drifting over the South Pole, resulting in very cold conditions. As Gondwana continued its journey through various latitudes, the climate varied drastically depending on location, ranging from warm to temperate. Given the continent's immense size, one part of Gondwana could be near the equator, while another could be at the pole!"

It's fascinating — imagining Gondwana in its prime would have been a sight to behold, and while you won't get to witness its grand return, that doesn't mean it's not within the realm of possibility. Continents are constantly shifting, and scientists have many theories about what the next supercontinent might look like.