The continent known as Argoland broke off from northwestern Australia 155 million years ago.
Eldert Advokaat & Douwe van HinsbergenA Reconstruction Period demonstrate how the ancient continent of Argoland split up off from Australia , fragmented , and meld with Southeast Asia .
New research may have just solved the 155 - million - class - old closed book of what happened to a small , lose continent that once give out off from northwestern Australia .
Scientists have suspected for some time that this land mass , known as Argoland , divorced itself from the Australian continent , thanks to evidence of a cryptic ocean void off the northwest coast of Australia . But after that , the trail kick the bucket insensate .
Eldert Advokaat & Douwe van HinsbergenA reconstruction showing how the ancient continent of Argoland split off from Australia, fragmented, and combined with Southeast Asia.
What find to Argoland , and where it went , proved to be elusive questions until recently .
Argoland take issue from a typical continent when it first broke away from Australia . India , for example , was once attach to the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana 120 million years ago , but is obviously still around today in more or less the same frame .
Argoland , on the other hand , fragmentize once it broke barren , its pieces scattering across the globe . Until now , researchers could only wonder where all of those piece went .
“ We know it had to be somewhere northerly of Australia , so we expected to find it in Southeast Asia , ” Eldert Advokaat , a research worker at Utrecth University in the Netherlands who served as lead author on the novel study , toldLive Science .
Their study , publish in the journalGondwana Research , outlines how Advokaat and his workfellow sour backward to reconstruct Argoland ’s ancient journeying .
They knew that Argoland ’s shard had drifted north after breaking off , and so they began their search again , this time beginning at the closing of the lose continent ’s journey in Southeast Asia .
Here , they notice traces of the continent via architectonic “ mega - building block ” break up across the sea floor . This also revealed the front of the remnants of small oceans that had formed around 200 million years ago , which research worker believe formed as architectonic forces moved the world and , eventually , caused Argoland to fissure and break off .
According to anews going , continue of the once 3,100 - mil - long continent were “ hidden beneath the unripe jungles of large parts of Indonesia and Myanmar . ”
“ That cognitive operation goes on for 50 to 60 million days and around 155 million year ago , that whole collage of these ribbon Continent and step in ocean starts err over to Southeast Asia , ” Advokaat tell . “ We did n’t misplace a continent ; it was just already a very extended and fragmented ensemble . ”
A similar mental process fall out to various other lost continents throughout history , as well , including Zealandia , also near Australia , and Greater Adria , which was once located in the Mediterranean Sea .
Humanity has , of course , long been fascinated by the melodic theme of lose continents — the most noted example being the purported lost continent of Atlantis , first mentioned by the philosopher and mathematician Plato . Others have theorized about the mythical lose continents ofLemuriaand Mu , which were said to be lands rife with ancient secrets and treasure .
But there is also a very real scientific reason scientist would want to find and explore ancient lost Continent .
As study atomic number 27 - writer Douwe van Hinsbergen said , observe the life-time and death of continents is “ vital for our understanding of processes like the development of biodiversity and mood , or for find raw materials . And at a more profound level : for understand how batch are make or for working out the labour forces behind collection plate tectonics . ”
When piece of Argoland collided with the ancient landmass that became Southeast Asia , it altered the biologic landscape , contributing to the region ’s rich biodiversity of today .
Ultimately , while the squad did not unveil any ancient lost civilisation or human - lemur hybrids , this new research does offer a bevy of utilitarian entropy that can manoeuver succeeding research into how our planet spring — and how it could change in the future .
After learning about this fascinating Modern enquiry , translate aboutZealandia , the lost continent that sank beneath New Zealand . Or , discover all aboutGreater Adria , the fall behind continent found eat up beneath Europe .
