Evening star., 1933-07-27
GE0L0G|ST TELL s.
Of LOST CONTINENT
SOUTH OF EQUATOR
GondWana Described as
Largest Land Mass the
Earth Has Ever Known.
TWO THEORIES ADVANCED
AS TO ITS DESTRUCTION
Swiss Scientist Discusses Cosmic
Force That Rejuvenates Globe
at Lengthy Intervals.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
The lost continent of Gondwana
vastest land mass the earth has known
was discussed before the International
Geological Congress here today.
It was in existence as late as the
miocene geological period, approximate
ly 150,000,000 years ago, the congress
was told by Alexander L. Du Toit
South African geologist, in paper on
the glaciations of the Southern Hem
isphere. That was in the last years OF
the domination of the earth by the
monster reptiles and when warm
blooded animals were coming into their
own.
The latest studies OF rocks and the
fossils found in them, Du Toit reported,
show that the great continent must
have included most of Africa, South
America and Australia, as well as the
peninsular portion of India, the Falk-
land Islands, Tasmania, Madagascar
and much Of Anartica This would
have made land mass somewhat larger
than the present Eurasia, but many
geologists believe that Gondwana was
very much larger-a continuous land
mass stretching around the Southern
Hemisphere.
Drift Theory Disputed.
The great continent may simply have
broken up like an ice-cake IN Spring and
its various portions drifted apart over the
dense rock ocean upon which floats the
crust of the earth until they came ap-
proximately to the positions they occupy
today. On the other hand, Du Toit
said, vast areas may have sunk beneath
the sea, in the manner of the legendary
Atlantis, so that much of Gondwana
is now under the shallow Indian Ocean.
The continental drift theory IS disputed
by many biologists, who prefer TO De
lieve the continents were broken up py
titanic submergences.
If the latter theory IS correct, Gond-
wana would have been larger than the
total dry land area of the world to-
day. Compared with it, the fabulous
Atlantis would have been just a DOT
on the seas. But no great civilization
went with it into the depths. The
smash came scores of millions OF years
before the emergence OF man.
The evidence OF the actual existence
of Gondwana, which is widely accepted
by geologists, lies in the similarity OF
the fossil fauna found in the rocks OF
its detached fragments, the composition
of the rocks themselves and strong in
dications of a common geological his
tory. This includes the great glacia-
tions, which are quite different in time
from those of the Northern Hemis-
phere.
Northern Hemisphere.
At the same time there may have
been another vast lost continent" in
the Northern Hemisphere, which geolo-
gist have christened "Laurentia," and
which, it is likely, included most Of the
present portions of the earth which
were not parts OF Gondwana. This In
cludes some land in the Southern Hem
isphere, such as Northern South Amer
lea and the northern border OF Africa.
Here, also, there IS evidence Of COM
mon geological history.
Between the two great continents
rolled a monster ocean around the
world-the so-called Tethys deep, which
may have included most of the present.
day oceans.
Mother earth is rejuvenated by some
mysterious cosmic force at lengthy in
tervals, the congress was told by DR..
Arnold Helm, noted Swiss geologist. In
no other way, he believes, can be ex-
planned such phenomena as mountain
building, the shifting Of the North and
South Poles and the pendulum-like
alterations in the length Of the day.
This means that earth is not a slowly
dying planet, which few billion years
hence will be cold, lifeless mass whirl-
ing through space, but possesses sort
of cosmic fountain of perpetual life. A
planets life consists Of its heat. When
the material composing the earth was
Io w h l.
lion years ago it carried with it a tre-
mendous amount of energy in the form
of heat. But this energy has been used
literally. Such phenomena as earth
quakes and mountain building require
tremendous amounts.
Earth's Rotation Varies.
The greatest of all earth's energy
expenditures, DR.. Helm said, came about
in the shifting of its poles. Quite re-
Gently, from the viewpoint of the
geologist, the climate on Greenland was
semi-tropical and great coal beds were
laid down. This hardly could have
happened If the North Pole had not
been in quite a different position than
is the case today.
The amount of force required to bring
about such change Is almost incalcu-
liable, DR.. Helm said, ana II II came
from the planet itself, such experiments
soon would exhaust all the life force
inherited from the sun. Yet the earth
is not acting any older as the ages
60 by.
The speed of the earth's rotation
varies. 1t was slowed down after 1850
until about TOO, speeded up again until
1900 and now is slowing down again.
The indication is, DR.. Helm pointed
out, that some vast cosmic force of un-
known origin gives the earth a push
every now and then. It may be due, he
believes, to planet or some other
heavenly body that passes near the
earth at intervals.
The change in the speed Of spin, he
said. might result in slipping Of the
earth's outer shell around its interior,
bringing about westward drift of the
continents and all sorts of terrestrial