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Researchers Complete New Gondwana Map
An anonymous reader writes "A new computer simulated map has revealed the past position of the Australian, Antarctic and Indian tectonic plates, demonstrating how they formed the supercontinent Gondwana 165 million years ago. 'It was a simple technique, matching the geological boundaries on each plate. The geological units formed before the continents broke apart, so we used their position to put this ancient jigsaw puzzle back together again,' said Lloyd White of Royal Holloway University in a press release. 'We found that many existing studies had positioned the plates in the wrong place because the geological units did not align on each plate.'"
The God created Earth 5000 years ago. There is no evidence of Gondwana plate or even Earth 165 million years ago.
Aren't all the continents still connected? The only thing that has changed is where the low points are that are filled in with water.
When is google maps going to have this? I want to trace where my house was back then.
If you lived in the other supercontinent and had to crank out some code, you'd be out of luck.
When did they change it from Gondwanaland to Gondwana? Was no-one looking after the sign?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Neat article! But... um... where's the map?
Skip the regergitated article and go strait to the press release to see the map, and a video (and a link to the paper if you have access or are willing to pay $30).
In searching for the actual new map of Gondwana, the researchers in the article have this video of three continents separating.
http://vimeo.com/68311221
If the article is about a new map wouldn't it be a good idea to actually show the new map?
I was gonna say "pics, or it didn't happen." Video works, thanks.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
Interesting article - but there's no map. Seems kind of pointless.
In another paper I saw that Norway+Sweden was next to Colombia and Finland next to Venezuela:
http://www.deepdyve.com/lp/elsevier/baltica-amazonia-and-the-samba-connection-1000-million-years-of-6ICpDpEcbF
The "baltica-amazonia-and-the-samba-connection" :)
This was apparently long _before_ the Gondwana.
There is more to the Earths history than many want to understand.
The reconstruction has India moving West away from Australia with the Indo-Pacific archipelago presumably part of Laurasia in a relatively static position as Australia eventually moves northward. Most authors seem to have India moving east upon breakup with Africa and then colliding with southern Asia. Africa presumably splits from South America by moving east relative to South America, so the eastward rather than westward movement of India seems to be correct.
Obviously, a lot is missing from this reconstruction most notably the position of continental margins peripheral to the map projection. The relative timing of the events from an Australian-Antarctic perspectives seems to be correct but the positioning seems centric to the limited projection used and holding Australia in fixed position is probably the culprit here since positions in the central Indian Ocean are not indicated.
Looks like a scene with trees, a dinosaur (or some other saur or something) and some pterosaurs in the sky. i doubt thats a legit map of gondwona
The next time I take vacation in Gondwanaland.
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
Step 1: Formulate a premise based on a widely accepted existing theory
.. relevance anyone? No wonder we're still traversing the surface of the earth using combustion and generating electricity by destroying our planetary resources, all of the 'scientists' are busy wasting the planet's resources staring at a pile of bearshit in the woods.
.. bears live in it .. they eat, they shit.
Step 2: Write a piece of software which runs a simulation supporting that premise
Step 3: Receive accolades from mainstream science for your groundbreaking work
This isn't science, it's just plain silly. Spending time refining an existing concept about how the continents were arranged prior to human life existing
It's the woods
Stop Continental Drift!
Have gnu, will travel.
And New Zealand just pops into existence at the end like some just anchored a boat and fished it up out of the sea
Recycle PCs and build a wireless community network www.hillsborough.org.nz
Pangaea is the original unified supercontinent. Animation of its breakup is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pangea_animation_03.gif
Gondwana is one of the units formed as a product of the Pangaea breakup.
This study claims heightened accuracy of the Gondwana breakup
Was Here.
Damn, that s a shitty article. Sourcing a poorly hand drawn illustration of a dinosaur that isn't even relevant to the discussion from Wikimedia commons?
- Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
Reunite Gondwanaland! - the Pangaean Liberation Front.
mark
The real result is here linked from the press release page. There is a citation to the refereed journal in the pressrelease.
http://vimeo.com/68311221
What the article probably argues for is that correlation of units on Antarctica, and Australia are well correlated. The number of linkages for India seem to be fewer, but other geologic features elucidate that history pretty will, It begins about 165 MYA, but this latest reconstruction dates the split of the rest as much more recent, about 35 MYA. I assule that the magnetic anomaloies in the sea floor shown in the video are well dated, but the innovation is the correlation of terraines. Before there was more uncertaintly of how the pieces we have today were connected. Now that picture might be much more constrained, as the video suggests. We will have to wait and see if the conclusions hold up. I haven't tried to get to the journal article, I expect it to be behind a paywall, and hence not available for detailed reading. All I expect to see is the abstract.
The article cited in the press release is behind a paywall, and the abstract for it isn't even available.
If research is funded by public funds, journals should make an e-copy available for free. Journals should not be able to hide research, especially that funded by a government, for profit. Even the need to find reviewers does not justify that they get to charge for access, at least ot an e-copy. IMHO.