Great Gondwana supercontinent remnants identified beneath multiple continents

An international team of researchers has identified remnants of an ancient supercontinent, dubbed ‘Great Gondwana’, located beneath present-day Asia, Europe, and North America. According to a study published in the journal Science Advances, this landmass existed between 550 and 500 million years ago and was significantly larger than previously estimated.

By analyzing more than 25,000 igneous rock samples, scientists reconstructed the structure and estimated its surface area to be between 122.7 and 127.8 million square kilometers. This figure represents approximately 80% of the planet's total emerged land, surpassing the 75% threshold used to define a supercontinent.

The study suggests that the geological processes associated with Great Gondwana may have created the environmental conditions that facilitated the Cambrian explosion, a period marked by a rapid increase in the diversity of life on Earth.