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BiogeographyFormer supercontinentsGeology of AfricaGeology of Antarctica

Gondwana

Adapted from Wikipedia · Explorer experience

A colorful map showing the ancient land connections and geological features of the supercontinent Gondwana, helping us understand Earth's history.

Gondwana

Have you ever heard of a supercontinent? That’s a very big land that had many parts joined together long, long ago. One of these supercontinents was called Gondwana. It was made of places we know today like South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, and the Indian subcontinent.

Gondwana was a huge part of Earth’s land during a time called the Paleozoic Era. It was about one-fifth of the Earth’s surface! Later, it joined with another land called Laurasia to make an even bigger supercontinent named Pangaea.

This amazing land started to break apart a very long time ago, during the Triassic and Jurassic periods. As it split, new oceans formed between the continents we know today. Because of Gondwana’s history, places that were once part of it share some of the same plants and animals even now.

Gondwana was named by a scientist called Eduard Suess after a region in India. The word comes from an old language called Sanskrit and means “forest of the Gonds”. Isn’t that interesting?

Images

Map showing how fossils found in different places on Earth support the idea that continents were once connected.
A map showing how the continents were positioned 550 million years ago.
An ancient map showing how the lands of Asia were arranged 450 million years ago, based on scientific models of plate tectonics.
An ancient map showing how the lands of Asia were arranged 350 million years ago according to plate tectonics theory.
An ancient map showing how the lands of Asia looked 300 million years ago, based on scientific models of plate movements.
A scientific map showing how the continents of Asia were positioned 200 million years ago, based on plate tectonic research.
A map showing Earth as it looked 330 million years ago during the Serpukhovian Age.
A map showing Earth as it looked 190 million years ago, with today's country outlines for reference.
Ancient map showing how the western Indian Ocean looked 150 million years ago, with the first oceanic crust forming between Madagascar and Africa.
An ancient map showing how the western Indian Ocean looked 70 million years ago, with early oceanic crust forming between India and Madagascar.
A map showing how the eastern Indian Ocean formed about 120 million years ago, with the first oceanic crust between India and Antarctica.
Map showing how the eastern Indian Ocean formed around 80 million years ago, with the early creation of the Ninety East Ridge.

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Gondwana, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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