What am I going to do and find it?, he said. Eldert Advokaat. Thus, after a long investigation, the Dutch geologist finally managed to find a missing continent during 155 million years. Okay, possibly that wasn’t the case. But it is true that Advokaat has been the main author of a study that describes the discovery of Argoland, a continent that disappeared after separating from Australia, long before humans walked on Earth.
If it was known that this continent existed it is because there were traces of separation of Australia in fossils, mountain ranges and rocks. However, its location has been a mystery for many years. There are much clearer separations, such as that of Africa and South America, which fit together practically like the pieces of a puzzle. But the piece that fits Australia didn’t seem to be on the world map.
Now these scientists have discovered that the problem all this time had been precisely looking for a single piece. Because Argoland, in reality, is not a continent made up of a single mass of Earth. After separating, it became an archipelago that is now located under Southeast Asia.
In search of the missing continent
In addition to traces in fossils and mountain ranges, the greatest proof of the existence of Argoland is the void he left after his departure. This is a basin located in the deep ocean, west of Australia, called Argo Abyssal Plain.
Clearly, there was a gap in the puzzle indicating that, at some point, a piece was torn off. But where is that piece?
The team of scientists has passed 7 years using computer models to try to find Argoland, initially without results. They were looking for a piece of continental plate that could fit with the gap that was left next to Australia.
But, after hitting an invisible wall many times, they decided to change their strategy.
When a piece of continental plate separates, it leaves a trace on the seabed, which can make us guess what his journey was. In this case, it can be seen that he must have moved northwestward, until reaching the islands of Southeast Asia. But there is no continent there that fits Argoland.
On the other hand, they have been found small continental fragments, surrounded by very old oceanic plates. The lithosphere, the most solid and superficial layer of the Earth, is made up of plates, which can be oceanic, continental or mixed. The first are those that are mostly covered by oceanic crust. Very roughly, those that are under the ocean. The continental ones are covered mostly by continental crust and the mixed ones are covered by both types of crust.
Therefore, what has been observed when following the journey of Argoland is that near the Asian continent there are fragments of those continental plates that are surrounded by ancient oceanic crust, so that it must have moved from another place many, many years ago. Given this discovery, the geologists of the Utrecht University They decided to use their models to analyze the origin of these small ribbons of terrain and, indeed, they saw that geologically they fit with what once escaped from Australia.
There are two reasons why it has taken so long to find Argoland. The first, as we have already seen, has been the efforts of scientists to search for a entire continent. But there is more.
The second obstacle has been density difference between the oceanic and continental crust, which has caused these small fragments of continent to remain slightly hidden below sea level.
Answers about a mysterious invisible line
The discovery of this missing continent is important for many reasons. First of all, because a piece of the Earth that has been a mystery for many years has finally been placed.
But also because it helps explain a very curious phenomenonknown as Wallace line. It is an invisible barrier that crosses the center of Indonesia and separates very different animal species, which never mix with each other. West of the line are placental mammals, such as apes, tigers and elephants, which are also found in Southeast Asia. But these are almost completely absent in the east, where marsupials and cockatoos can be found. This is very interesting, because these are very characteristic animals typically found in Australia. Therefore, they possibly drifted there on the remains of Argoland. Two mysteries solved for the price of one. The “where I go and find it” best used in history.