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Gondwana

All articles tagged with #gondwana

science13 days ago•0 min saved

Zircon Analysis Reveals Hidden Gondwana Mountains Beneath Antarctic Ice

Two geologists from Australian National University have identified evidence of massive mountain ranges from the supercontinent Gondwana beneath Antarctica’s ice. By analyzing zircon minerals in ocean sediments, they mapped the remnants of Himalaya-scale peaks formed between 650 and 450 million years ago. This discovery suggests Antarctica played a critical role in the Cambrian explosion, as the erosion of these ancient mountains likely supplied nutrients and sediments that boosted oceanic life and atmospheric oxygen levels.

via Futurism|

#antarctica #cambrian-explosion #geology

science19 days ago•6 min saved

Hidden Gondwanan Mountains Beneath Antarctica May Have Shaped Life's Rise

A new study of zircon grains from Antarctic-derived sediments shows that Himalayan-scale mountain belts formed during Gondwana’s assembly (about 650–450 million years ago). As these mountains eroded, they dumped nutrients and sediments into the oceans, boosting primary production and burial of organic carbon and pyrite—processes that could have raised atmospheric oxygen and aided the rise of animal life. The authors stop short of claiming a direct cause for the Cambrian explosion, and timing uncertainties remain, but the evidence suggests a powerful, ancient tectonic event under the ice may have helped shape Earth's biosphere.

via ScienceAlert|

#antarctica #geology #gondwana

science20 days ago•6 min saved

Venus’s Lost Moon, Gondwana’s Hidden Peaks, and Humans in Mice: A Wide-Ranging Science Digest

A digest of several studies: Venus may have swallowed a primordial moon due to tidal evolution, potentially shaping its harsh climate; evidence suggests Antarctica hides remnants of the Gondwana Supermountains and submarine fan systems linked to the Cambrian explosion; researchers demonstrate xenocortication by transplanting human brain organoids into mice, where the tissues develop similarly to human brain cells; and a six-page fragment of Nicholas Love’s Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ was found tucked in John Gage’s belongings from the Dissolution period.

via 404 Media|

#antarctica #gondwana #moon

discoveries26 days ago•42 min saved

Ancient Gondwana Expanded: Isotope Mapping Suggests It Spanned 80% of Earth’s Crust

Isotope-based basement maps mapped by Curtin University reveal hidden Gondwanan crust beneath Asia, Europe and North America, boosting Gondwana’s share to about 80% of Earth’s continental crust and defining a larger landmass called Greater Gondwana. The study also uncovers a ~32,000 km belt of subduction and volcanism around Gondwana around 525–500 million years ago, a tectonic reorganization that may have influenced climate and coincided with the Cambrian explosion.

via The Brighter Side of News|

#continental-crust #discoveries #gondwana

science29 days ago•21 min saved

Gondwana Rewritten: 800-Million-Year-Old Fingerprints Map a Global Supercontinent

Using AI to analyze more than 25,000 magmatic rocks, scientists confirm Gondwana was a giant supercontinent that covered about 80% of Earth's landmass between 800 and 500 million years ago, with samarium-neodymium isotopes acting as its fingerprints and linking continental formation to the Cambrian explosion; the team aims to map Gondwana in more detail.

via wionews.com|

#ai #geology #gondwana

science1 month ago•11 min saved

Gondwana: the giant mega-continent that sparked Earth's life boom

A Science Advances study argues Gondwana was a true supercontinent, spanning up to ~80% of Earth's landmass and wrapped by a ~35,000 km Ring of Fire. Its formation around 750–550 million years ago released vast volcanic gases, shifting Earth’s climate from icehouse to greenhouse and helping catalyze the Cambrian explosion of life.

via The Conversation|

#cambrian-explosion #gondwana #plate-tectonics

science1 month ago•4 min saved

Ancient Gondwana: The 80% Earth-Land That Sparked the Cambrian Explosion

New isotopic mapping of rocks shows Gondwana formed a massive supercontinent that covered about 80% of Earth's land between 550 and 500 million years ago, a configuration linked to the Cambrian explosion and the rise of complex life, highlighting how deep-Earth processes helped drive major biodiversity upheavals.

via 404 Media|

#cambrian-explosion #gondwana #isotopic-geochemistry

science1 month ago•7 min saved

Giant Brazilian sauropod fossil reveals 120-million-year Europe–South America link

A newly identified about 20-meter-long sauropod, Dasosaurus tocantinensis, from a construction site in Maranhão, Brazil, lived around 120 million years ago. Its closest known relative was in Spain, indicating a broader Europe–South America connection and suggesting ancestors crossed Africa to South America as Gondwana broke apart. The nearly complete skeleton (tail, a 1.5-meter femur, ribs, and limb bones) provides clues to sauropod growth and biogeography. The discovery, led by researchers including Mayer and Langer, is published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, and underscores how construction projects can reveal fossils and the need for preservation.

via Science Daily|

#biogeography #brazil #dinosaur

science3 months ago•13 min saved

Buried fan-shaped basin beneath East Antarctica hints at Gondwana breakup scars

Scientists mapped a giant, fan-shaped set of basins beneath East Antarctica using sub-ice topography, gravity, magnetic and seismic data, suggesting a cohesive tectonic province formed by distributed rotational extension before Gondwana split. The proposed East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province may represent a continent-scale scar that helped guide the Antarctica–Australia separation and influence ice-flow patterns, though the timing and full implications remain uncertain and require further testing.

via Space Daily|

#east-antarctica #gondwana #ice-sheet-dynamics

science4 months ago•112 min saved

Giant fan-shaped subglacial basin under East Antarctica rewrites tectonic history

Researchers have identified a giant, fan-shaped subglacial basin province beneath East Antarctica, formed by distributed rotational extension that connects major basins such as Wilkes, Aurora, and the Lake Vostok region; this may reflect Gondwana breakup and indicates East Antarctica has a more dynamic tectonic history than previously thought, with possible implications for how the ice sheet responds to climate change.

via Live Science|

#east-antarctica #gondwana #nature-geoscience

science4 months ago•6 min saved

Antarctica’s Hidden Fan Reveals Ancient Subglacial Blueprint

Scientists mapped about 30 connected basins beneath East Antarctica, forming a fan-shaped province (EAFBP) that radiates from a central South Pole area. The radially arranged basins point to rotational extension that predates Gondwana’s breakup and may have guided ice movement and landscape evolution, reshaping our understanding of Antarctica’s bedrock and its history.

via ScienceAlert|

#east-antarctica #gondwana #ice-flow

science5 months ago•47 min saved

Discovery of 20-meter Brazilian sauropod hints at an ancient Europe-to-South America highway

A new long-necked sauropod, Dasosaurus tocantinensis, from Maranhão, Brazil, dating to about 120 million years ago, was found eight meters underground at a construction site; at roughly 20 meters long, it is the largest known Brazilian dinosaur from the region and is closest to a Spanish species, Garumbatitan morellensis, implying a European lineage that dispersed to South America via Africa around 140–120 million years ago and suggesting earlier intercontinental faunal exchange; the discovery expands northeastern Brazil’s dinosaur record and highlights construction sites as windows into ancient ecosystems, though dating uncertainties remain and researchers plan further excavations with the site owner.

via Yahoo|

#dasosaurus-tocantinensis #europe-to-south-america-dispersal #gondwana

science5 months ago•6 min saved

Morocco Titanosaur Hints at Ancient Dinosaur Highways Across Seas

A newly identified Moroccan titanosaur, Phosphatotitan khouribgaensis, dating to about 70 million years ago, bears surprising similarities to South American Lognkosauria, implying ancient intercontinental links or dispersal routes and highlighting a previously overlooked, endemic North African dinosaur fauna shaped by island-like sea barriers.

via Indian Defence Review|

#dinosaurs #gondwana #morocco

science-paleontology6 months ago•9 min saved

Twisted-Jaw Tetrapod from Gondwana Illuminates Early Plant-Eating Life

Researchers describe Tanyka amnicola, a 275-million-year-old stem tetrapod known from seven to nine jawbones found in Brazil’s Pedra de Fogo Formation. The jaws are twisted with outward-facing teeth and a denticle-covered inner surface, indicating a grinding mechanism for plant matter and suggesting early herbivory among stem tetrapods. The discovery places this “living fossil” in Gondwana’s Permian ecosystems and helps fill gaps in the fossil record, though the full skeleton remains unknown and may have measured up to about 0.9 meters in length.

via SciTechDaily|

#gondwana #jaw-morphology #paleontology

science8 months ago•20 min saved

Antarctica's Hidden 34-Million-Year Landscape Revealed by Satellite

Canada’s RADARSAT satellite surfaced a buried, 34-million-year-old landscape under East Antarctica’s ice, including an ancient riverbed and forested terrain preserved before glaciation, offering new clues on Earth’s past climates and how ice sheets may respond to warming and sea‑level rise.

via Diario AS|

#antarctica #climate-change #geology