Scientists from Utrecht University managed to reveal the truth of Argolanda continent that separated from Western Australia 155 million years ago and that he thought he was lost.
Through a seven year investigationscientists reconstructed this enigma, showing that instead of sinking into the Earth’s mantle as previously thought, Argoland persists as microcontinental fragments.
This continent, with a length of 5 thousand kilometers, left his mark on the Argo Abyssal Plainan underwater basin in the depths of the ocean.
Argoland, a microcontinent in the form of an archipelago
The history of Argoland is unique in that it is not a clear and coherent continent, but rather a “Argopelago” of microcontinental fragments.
The investigation revealed that Argolandia split into many different fragmentsforming a ‘geological collage’ hidden for millions of years.
The fragmentation process started about 300 million years agobut the geologists Eldert Advokaat and Douwe van Hinsbergen They explained that the breakup of Argoland accelerated about 215 million years agodividing the continent into fine fragments that make up the current landscape.
The research focused on the Southeast Asian region, where islands, including Sumatra, the Andaman Islands, Borneo, Sulawesi and Timor, tell the story of the continent’s fragmentation.
This discovery not only sheds light on the geological history of Argoland, but also provides valuable information to understand biodiverse processesunderlining the importance of geology in reconstructing the history of the Earth.
The persistence of Argoland as a microcontinent in the form of an archipelago demonstrates the complexity of geological evolution and highlights the need to continue exploring the enigmas hidden beneath the Earth’s surface.