I am so excited! I know about Rodinia. I know that fragments of an ancient continent are buried beneath the floor of the Indian Ocean. There is evidence for a landmass that would have existed between 2,000 and 85 million years ago. The strip of land, which is called Mauritia, eventually fragmented and vanished beneath the waves, study says.
The grains of sand found on the beaches of Mauritius are from a volcanic eruption that happened 9 million years ago. Zircons that are extracted from the grains, are common in continental crust. Zircons are very very old. Can be 600 million years old.
Scientists believe zircons are remnants of ancient land that was dragged up to the surface during a volcanic eruption. They believe pieces of Mauritia can be found about 10km down beneath Mauritius and under a swathe of the Indian Ocean.
After many millions of years, some intelligent beings will find the land we are now living in. In the meantime the land will be drifted away from their places or the land will be vanished under the ocean. I am so excited!
Lofty says
Darn ephemeral continents! 😉
Now where would we be without plate tectonics? On Mars perhaps.
F [nucular nyandrothol] says
https://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/platetec/plhist94.htm
Here’s a decent sequence of continents since Rodinia. Too bad it is difficult to go back much further, but there are hypotheses…
Continental margins are fun.
Taslima Nasreen says
”Continental margins are fun.”
Really fun. : )
No One says
Rodinia, my ancestral homeland. Who knows the Rodinian national anthem? Sing with me…