Gondwana - wikipedia Gondwana This article is about the supercontinent. For other uses, see Gondwana ( disambiguation ). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( October 2011 ) Gondwana Map of Pangaea with Laurasia and Gondwana. 200 mya Historical continent Formed 600 Mya Type Supercontinent Today part of Africa North America South America Australia India Arabia Antarctica Balkans Smaller continents Atlantica India Australia Antarctica Zealandia Tectonic plate African Plate Antarctic Plate Indo - Australian Plate South American Plate Gondwana ( / ɡɒndˈwɑːnə / ), or Gondwanaland, was a supercontinent that formed from the unification of several cratons in the Late Neoproterozoic, merged with Laurussia in the Carboniferous to form Pangaea, and began to fragment in the Mesozoic. It was the largest continental landmass on Earth, covering an area of 1,000,000 km ( 390,000 sq mi ) or 64 % of today 's continents. Located in the Southern Hemisphere, it incorporated several modern landmasses, including Antarctica, South America, Africa, Madagascar, and Australia, as well as the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent, which have now moved entirely into the Northern Hemisphere. The formation of Gondwana began c. 800 to 650 Ma with the East African orogeny -- the collision of India, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka with East Africa -- and was completed c. 600 to 530 Ma with the overlapping Brasiliano and Kuunga orogenies -- the collision of South America with Africa and the addition of Australia and Antarctica, respectively. Contents 1 Origin of concept 2 Formation 3 Pangaea 4 Breakup 4.1 Mesozoic 4.2 Cenozoic 5 Biogeography 6 See also 7 References 7.1 Notes 7.2 Sources 8 Further reading 9 External links Origin of concept The continent of Gondwana was named by Austrian scientist Eduard Suess, after the Gondwana region of central northern 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 region and the supercontinent. Formation Life timeline view discuss edit - 4500 -- -- - 4000 -- -- - 3500 -- -- - 3000 -- -- - 2500 -- -- - 2000 -- -- - 1500 -- -- - 1000 -- -- - 500 -- -- 0 -- water Single - celled life photosynthesis Eukaryotes Multicellular life Land life Dinosaurs Mammals Flowers ← Earliest Earth ( − 4540 ) ← Earliest water ← Earliest life ← LHB meteorites ← Earliest oxygen ← Atmospheric oxygen ← Oxygen crisis ← Earliest sexual reproduction ← Ediacara biota ← Cambrian explosion ← Earliest humans h n r o z o i r o r o z o i r h n d n Pongola Huronian Cryogenian Andean Karoo Quaternary Axis scale : millions of years. Orange labels : known ice ages. Also see : Human timeline and Nature timeline Eastern Gondwana. 620 to 550 Ma post-collisional extension of the East African Orogeny in blue and 570 to 530 Ma collisional metamorphism of the Kuunga orogeny in red. The assembly of Gondwana was a protracted process that occurred during the Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic which remains relatively poorly constrained 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 c. 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 ). Three orogenies were recognized during the 1990s : the East African orogeny ( 650 to 800 Ma ) and Kuunga orogeny ( including the Malagasy orogeny in southern Madagascar ) ( 550 Ma ) -- the collision between East Gondwana and East Africa in two steps, and the Brasiliano orogeny ( 660 to 530 Ma ) -- the collision between South American and African cratons. 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. Laurentia was docked against the western shores of a united Gondwana for a short period near the Precambrian / Cambrian boundary, forming the short - lived and still disputed supercontinent Pannotia. The Mozambique Ocean separated the Congo -- Tanzania -- Bangweulu Block of central Africa from Neoproterozoic India ( India, the Antongil Block in far eastern Madagascar, the Seychelles, and the Napier and Rayner Complexes in East Antarctica ). The Azania continent ( much of central Madagascar, the Horn of Africa and parts of Yemen and Arabia ) was an island in the Mozambique Ocean. The Australia / Mawson continent was composed of Australia west of Adelaide and a large extension into East Antarctica. Other blocks which helped to form parts of the Southern Cone of South America, including a piece transferred from Laurentia when the west edge of Gondwana scraped against southeast Laurentia in the Ordovician. This is the Cuyania terrane of the Famatinian orogeny in northwest Argentina which may have continued the line of the Appalachians southwards, though its Laurentian origin has been disputed. Reconstruction showing final stages of assembly of Gondwana, 550 Mya As the rest of Gondwana formed, a complex series of orogenic events assembled the eastern parts of Gondwana ( eastern Africa, Arabian - Nubian Shield, Seychelles, Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka, East Antarctica, and Australia ) c. 750 to 530 Ma. First the Arabian - Nubian Shield collided with eastern Africa ( in the Kenya - Tanzania region ) in the East African Orogeny c. 750 to 620 Ma. Then Australia and East Antarctica were merged with the remaining Gondwana c. 570 to 530 Ma in the Kuunga Orogeny. The later Malagasy orogeny at about 550 -- 515 Mya affected Madagascar, eastern East Africa and southern India. In it, Neoproterozoic India collided with the already combined Azania and Congo -- Tanzania -- Bangweulu Block, suturing along the Mozambique Belt. Pangaea Main article : Pangaea Gondwana and Laurussia 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 Laurussia 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 hand, remained largely unaffected by the collision along the southern shores of Laurentia. Some Peri-Gondwanan terranes, such as Yucatán and Florida, were buffered from collisions by major promontories. Other terranes, such as Carolina and Meguma, were directly involved in the collision. The final collision resulted in the Variscan - Appalachian Mountains, stretching from present - day Mexico to southern Europe. Meanwhile Baltica collided with Siberia and Kazakhstania which resulted in the Uralian orogeny and Laurasia. Pangaea was finally amalgamated in the Late Carboniferous - Early Permian but the oblique forces continued until Pangaea began to rift in the Triassic. In the eastern end collisions occurred slightly later. The North China, South China, and Indochina blocks rifted from Gondwana during the middle Paleozoic and opened the Proto - Tethys Ocean. North China docked with Mongolia and Siberia during the Carboniferous -- Permian followed by South China. The Cimmerian blocks then rifted from Gondwana to form the Palaeo - Thethys and Neo-Tethys oceans in the Late Carboniferous and docked with Asia during the Triassic and Jurassic. Western Pangaea began to rift while the eastern end was still being assembled. The formation of Pangaea and its mountains had a tremendous impact on global climate and sea levels, which resulted in glaciations and continent - wide sedimentation. In North America, the base of the Absaroka sequence coincides with the Alleghanian and Ouachita orogenies and are indicative of a large - scale change in the mode of deposition far away from the Pangaean orogenies. Ultimately, these changes contributed to the Permian -- Triassic extinction event and left large deposits of hydrocarbons, coal, evaporite, and metals. 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 this region stayed attached to North America when the Atlantic opened. Breakup Mesozoic Gondwana began to break up in the early Jurassic and the early Cretaceous ( about 184 to 132 million years ago ) 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 Cretaceous -- Paleogene extinction event. The India -- Madagascar -- Seychelles separations appear to coincide with the eruption of the Deccan basalts, whose eruption site may survive as the Réunion 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, a barrier was no longer present to force the cold waters of the Southern Ocean 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 10 ° C, 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, as well as allowing the Great American Interchange. The Red Sea and East African Rift are modern examples of continental rifting. Biogeography The Nothofagus plant genus illustrates Gondwanan distribution, having descended from the supercontinent and existing in present - day Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and the Southern Cone. Fossils have also recently been found in Antarctica. 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 continent in the Southern Hemisphere, has a `` Gondwanan distribution '' and is often described as an archaic, or relict, lineage. The distributions in Proteaceae is, nevertheless, the result of both Gondwanan rafting and later oceanic dispersal. 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. See also : Gondwanatheria 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 Plate tectonics, a theory which describes the large - scale motions of Earth 's lithosphere South Polar dinosaurs, which proliferated during the Early Cretaceous ( 145 -- 100 Mya ) while Australia was still linked to Antarctica to form East Gondwana Tarkine wilderness References Notes Jump up ^ `` Gondwana ''. Dictionary.com. Lexico Publishing Group. Retrieved 18 January 2010. Jump up ^ `` Gondwanaland ''. Merriam - Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved 18 January 2010. Jump up ^ Torsvik & Cocks 2013, Abstract Jump up ^ Meert & Van Der Voo 1997, Abstract Jump up ^ Suess 1885, p. 768 : `` Wir nennen es Gondwána - Land, nach der gemeinsamen alten Gondwána - Flora,... '' ( We name it Gondwána - Land, after the common ancient flora of Gondwána... ) ^ Jump up to : McLoughlin 2001, Gondwana or Gondwanaland ?, pp. 272 -- 273 Jump up ^ Meert 2003, Fig. 10, p. 19 Jump up ^ Meert & Van Der Voo 1997, Introduction, pp. 223 -- 226 Jump up ^ Miashita & Yamamoto 1996 Jump up ^ Meert & Van Der Voo 1997, p. 229 Jump up ^ Defined but not named in Collins & Pisarevsky 2005 : `` Azania '' was a Greek name for the East African coast Jump up ^ Larson 1977 Jump up ^ Rapalini 2001 ; Rapalini 1998 Jump up ^ Dalla Salda et al. 1998 Jump up ^ See for example Vujovich, van Staal & Davis 2004 Jump up ^ Meert 2003, Abstract Jump up ^ Grantham, Maboko & Eglington 2003 Jump up ^ Torsvik & Van Der Voo 2002, Data selection and reconstruction fits, p. 772 Jump up ^ Blakey 2003, Assembly of Western Pangaea : Carboniferous -- Permian, pp. 453 -- 454 Jump up ^ Blakey 2003, Assembly of Eastern Pangaea : Late Permian -- Jurassic, p. 454 Jump up ^ Blakey 2003, Summary : significance of Pangaean events, pp. 454 -- 455 Jump up ^ `` Gondwana Remnants In Alabama And Georgia : Uchee Is An ' Exotic ' Peri-Gondwanan Arc Terrane, Not Part Of Laurentia ''. ScienceDaily. February 4, 2008. Retrieved 2011 - 10 - 22. Jump up ^ Markl 1974 ; Encarnación et al. 1996 Jump up ^ Powell, C. ; Roots, S.R. ; Veevers, J.J. `` Pre-Breakup Continental Extension in East Gondwanaland and the Early Opening of the Eastern Indian Ocean ''. Tectonophysics. 155 ( 1 - 4 ) : 261 -- 283. doi : 10.1016 / 0040 - 1951 ( 88 ) 90269 - 7. Jump up ^ Dalziel, Ian W.D. ; Elliot, David H. ( 1 February 1982 ). `` West Antarctica : Problem Child of Gondwanaland ''. Tectonics. 1 ( 1 ) : 3 -- 19. ISSN 1944 - 9194. doi : 10.1029 / TC001i001p00003. Jump up ^ Luyendyk, Bruce P. ; Forsyth, Donald ; Phillips, J.D. ( 1972 ). `` Experimental Approach to the Paleocirculation of the Oceanic Surface Waters ''. Geological Society of America Bulletin. 83 ( 9 ). doi : 10.1130 / 0016 - 7606 ( 1972 ) 83 ( 2649 : eattpo ) 2.0.co ; 2. Jump up ^ HaoMin & ZheKun 2007 Jump up ^ Barker et al. 2007, Abstract Sources Barker, N.P. ; Weston, P.H. ; Rutschmann, F. ; Sauquet, H. ( 2007 ). `` Molecular dating of the ' Gondwanan'plant family Proteaceae is only partially congruent with the timing of the break ‐ up of Gondwana '' ( PDF ). Journal of Biogeography. 34 ( 12 ) : 2012 -- 2027. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1365 - 2699.2007. 01749. x. Retrieved 3 September 2017. Blakey, R.C. ( 2003 ). `` Carboniferous -- Permian paleogeography of the assembly of Pangaea ''. In Wong, Th. E. Proceedings of the XVth International Congress on Carboniferous and Permian Stratigraphy. Utrecht ( Vol. 10, p. 16 ) ( PDF ). Utrecht, the Netherlands : Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 16 September 2017. Collins, A.S. ; Pisarevsky, S.A. ( 2005 ). `` Amalgamating eastern Gondwana : The evolution of the Circum - Indian Orogens '' ( PDF ). Earth - Science Reviews. 71 ( 3 -- 4 ) : 229 -- 270. Bibcode : 2005ESRv... 71... 229... doi : 10.1016 / j. earscirev. 2005.02. 004. Retrieved 4 September 2017. Dalla Salda, L.H. ; de Luchi, M.G.L. ; Cingolani, C.A. ; Varela, R. ( 1998 ). `` Laurentia - Gondwana collision : the origin of the Famatinian - Appalachian orogenic belt ( a review ) '' ( PDF ). Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 142 ( 1 ) : 219 -- 234. doi : 10.1144 / GSL. SP. 1998.142. 01.11. Retrieved 10 September 2017. Encarnación, J. ; Fleming, T.H. ; Elliot, D.H. ; Eales, H.V. ( 1996 ). `` Synchronous emplacement of Ferrar and Karoo dolerites and the early breakup of Gondwana '' ( PDF ). Geology. 24 ( 6 ) : 535 -- 538. ISSN 0091 - 7613. doi : 10.1130 / 0091 - 7613 ( 1996 ) 0242.3.CO ; 2. 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 '' ( PDF ). Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 206 ( 1 ) : 401 -- 425. doi : 10.1144 / GSL. SP. 2003.206. 01.19. Retrieved 3 September 2017. HaoMin, Li ; ZheKun, Zhou ( 1 September 2007 ). `` Fossil Nothofagaceous Leaves from the Eocene of Western Antarctica and their Bearing on the Origin, Dispersal and Systematics of Nothofagus '' ( PDF ). Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences. 50 ( 10 ) : 1525 -- 1535. doi : 10.1007 / s11430 - 007 - 0102 - 0. Retrieved 10 September 2017. Larson, R.L. ( 1977 ). `` Early Cretaceous Breakup of Gondwanaland off Western Australia ''. Geology. 5 ( 1 ) : 57 -- 60. doi : 10.1130 / 0091 - 7613 ( 1977 ) 5 < 57 : ECBOGO > 2.0.CO ; 2. Markl, Rudi G. ( 1974 ). `` Evidence for the Breakup of Eastern Gondwanaland by the Early Cretaceous ''. Nature. 251 ( 5472 ) : 196 -- 200. doi : 10.1038 / 251196a0. McLoughlin, S. ( 2001 ). `` The breakup history of Gondwana and its impact on pre-Cenozoic floristic provincialism '' ( PDF ). Australian Journal of Botany. 49 ( 3 ) : 271 -- 300. doi : 10.1071 / BT00023. Retrieved 3 September 2017. Meert, J.G. ( 2003 ). `` A synopsis of events related to the assembly of eastern Gondwana '' ( PDF ). Tectonophysics. 362 ( 1 ) : 1 -- 40. Bibcode : 2003Tectp. 362... 1M. doi : 10.1016 / S0040 - 1951 ( 02 ) 00629 - 7. Meert, J.G. ; Van Der Voo, R. ( 1997 ). `` The assembly of Gondwana 800 - 550 Ma '' ( PDF ). Journal of Geodynamics. 23 ( 3 - 4 ) : 223 -- 235. doi : 10.1016 / S0264 - 3707 ( 96 ) 00046 - 4. Retrieved 3 September 2017. Miashita, Y. ; Yamamoto, T. ( 1996 ). `` Gondwanaland : Its Formation, Evolution and Dispersion ''. Journal of African Earth Sciences. 23 ( 2 ). doi : 10.1016 / s0899 - 5362 ( 97 ) 86882 - 0. Rapalini, A.E. ( 2001 ). The Assembly of Southern South America in the Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic : Some Paleomagnetic Clues. Spring Meeting 2001. American Geophysical Union. Bibcode : 2001AGUSM... GP32D03R. Retrieved 18 January 2010. Rapalini, A.E. ( 1998 ). `` Syntectonic magnetization of the mid-Palaeozoic Sierra Grande Formation : further constraints on the tectonic evolution of Patagonia '' ( PDF ). Journal of the Geological Society. 155 ( 1 ) : 105 -- 114. doi : 10.1144 / gsjgs. 155.1. 0105. Retrieved 10 September 2017. Suess, E. ( 1885 ). Das Antlitz der Erde ( The Face of the Earth ) ( in German ). 1. Leipzig, Germany : G. Freytag. Retrieved 3 September 2017. Torsvik, T.H. ; Cocks, L.R.M. ( 2013 ). `` Gondwana from top to base in space and time '' ( PDF ). Gondwana Research. 24 ( 3 ) : 999 -- 1030. doi : 10.1016 / j. gr. 2013.06. 012. Retrieved 18 September 2013. Torsvik, T.H. ; Voo, R.V.D. ( 2002 ). `` Refining Gondwana and Pangea Palaeogeography : Estimates of Phanerozoic non ‐ dipole ( octupole ) fields '' ( PDF ). Geophysical Journal International. 151 ( 3 ) : 771 -- 794. doi : 10.1046 / j. 1365 - 246X. 2002.01799. x. Retrieved 16 September 2017. Vujovich, G.I. ; van Staal, C.R. ; Davis, W. ( 2004 ). `` Age constraints on the tectonic evolution and provenance of the Pie de Palo Complex, Cuyania composite terrane, and the Famatinian Orogeny in the Sierra de Pie de Palo, San Juan, Argentina '' ( PDF ). Gondwana Research. 7 ( 4 ) : 1041 -- 1056. doi : 10.1016 / S1342 - 937X ( 05 ) 71083 - 2. Retrieved 10 September 2017. 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. Cowen, Richard ( 2000 ). History of Life ( 3rd ed. ). Malden, MA : Blackwell Science. ISBN 978 - 0 - 632 - 04444 - 3. OCLC 41572551. 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. Scheffler, K. ; Hoernes, S. ; Schwark, L. ( July 2003 ). `` Global changes during Carboniferous -- Permian glaciation of Gondwana : Linking polar and equatorial climate evolution by geochemical proxies '' ( PDF ). Geology. 33 ( 7 ) : 605 -- 608. Bibcode : 2003Geo... 31... 605S. doi : 10.1130 / 0091 - 7613 ( 2003 ) 031 < 0605 : GCDCGO > 2.0.CO ; 2. Retrieved 10 September 2017. External links Animation showing the dispersal of Gondwanaland Graphical subjects dealing with Tectonics and Paleontology Gondwana Reconstruction and Dispersion The Gondwana Map Project Houseman, Greg. `` Animation of the dispersal of Gondwanaland ''. University of Leeds. Retrieved 21 October 2008. Continents of the world Africa Antarctica Asia Australia Europe North America South America Afro - Eurasia Americas Eurasia Oceania Former supercontinents Gondwana Laurasia Pangaea Pannotia Rodinia Columbia Kenorland Nena Sclavia Ur Vaalbara Historical continents Amazonia Arctica Asiamerica Atlantica Avalonia Baltica Cimmeria Congo craton Euramerica Kalaharia Kazakhstania Laurentia North China Siberia South China East Antarctica India Submerged continents Kerguelen Plateau Zealandia Possible future supercontinents Pangaea Ultima Amasia Novopangaea Mythical and hypothesised continents Atlantis Kumari Kandam Lemuria Meropis Mu Hyperborea Terra Australis See also Regions of the world Continental fragment Book VIAF : 316739114 GND : 4021604 - 4 NDL : 00562546 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gondwana&oldid=801998155 '' Categories : Historical continents Supercontinents Biogeography Paleozoic paleogeography Mesozoic paleogeography Geology of Africa Geology of Antarctica Geology of Asia Geology of India Geology of Australia Geology of South America Prehistory of Antarctica Paleozoic Africa Paleozoic Antarctica Paleozoic Asia Paleozoic South America Mesozoic Africa Mesozoic Antarctica Mesozoic Asia Mesozoic South America Hidden categories : Wikipedia indefinitely move - protected pages Articles needing additional references from October 2011 All articles needing additional references CS1 German - language sources ( de ) Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Azərbaycanca বাংলা Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ भोजपुरी Български Boarisch Bosanski Català Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch ދިވެހިބަސް Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge Gàidhlig Galego 한국어 Հայերեն हिन्दी Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית ქართული Қазақша Кыргызча Latviešu Lietuvių Magyar Malagasy मराठी Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Occitan پنجابی Piemontèis Polski Português Română Русский Саха тыла Scots Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Ślůnski Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Tagalog தமிழ் Татарча / tatarça Türkçe Українська اردو Tiếng Việt West - Vlams 粵語 Zazaki 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 23 September 2017, at 09 : 13. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: when did south america break away from africa
Answer: about 130 Mya during the Early Cretaceous