Scientists finally discover the “lost continent”

Source: unsplash.com / Harry Cunningham

The mystery of what exactly happened to the lost continent that disappeared 155 million years ago may be solved, as scientists discover evidence of the continent’s existence.

As it turned out, the lost continent, known as argoland, he had “Accidental Divorce” with Western Australia. It collapsed when tectonic forces “stretched” a large chunk of land away from the rest of the continent, before spreading across Southeast Asia, according to a new study.

Researchers have known this for a long time A continent separated from Australia 155 million years agoThis is thanks to clues in the geology of the deep ocean basin known as argo abyssal plain, On the northwestern coast of the country.

But unlike India, which separated from… Ancient The supercontinent Gondwana 120 million years ago It is still one land today, and Argoland has been shattered into fragments. To this day, Scientists were trying to figure out where these parts of the continent ended.

“We knew it had to be somewhere north of Australia, so we expected to find it in Southeast Asia.”Eldert Advocaat, lead author of the study and a researcher at the Department of Earth Sciences at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, said.

In the news A study published online October 19 in the journal Gondwana ResearchAdvocaat and his colleagues reconstructed the continent’s secessionist journey. Researchers have found fragments of ancient lands scattered throughout Indonesia and MyanmarBut when they tried to reconstruct Argoland from these fragments, “Nothing fits”.

The team then worked backwards, collecting evidence in Southeast Asia to track Argoland’s journey north. inside Scattered fragments of ancient land, and the remains of small oceans have been discovered dating back to about 200 million years ago.. “These oceans were likely formed as tectonic forces expanded and Argoland rifted before the 5,000-kilometre-long continent separated.” Advocaat said.

“This process went on for 50 to 60 million years, and about 155 million years ago, this whole set of overlapping continents and oceans drifted toward Southeast Asia,” Advocaat said. “We didn’t lose a continent. It was already a very broad and fragmented group.” he added.

To the contrary, Advocaat and colleagues said Argoland is referred to as “Argopelago”. “Reconstructing the continent’s history may shed light on the past climate of this region, which would have cooled as oceans formed between the pieces of Argoland.” Advocaat said.

“When parts of the Argoland collided with the continents in Southeast Asia, they also formed the great biodiversity we see today. This could help explain the uneven distribution of species along an invisible barrier that runs through Indonesia.” Advocaat added.

“In general, the Argoland complex serves as a starting point for new research,” he concluded.