You are on page 1of 27

128 GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA

a0005 GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA


J J Veevers, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Craton counterclockwise. Between 550 Ma and
Australia 490 Ma, stress 2 was generated first by oblique sub-
2005, Elsevier Ltd. All Rights Reserved. duction of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate beneath Antarctica
and second by transcurrence beneath Avalonia
Cadomia and the West African and Amazonia
Introduction Cratons. The IndiaEast AntarcticaWest Australia
p0005 Gondwanaland existed from the 600500 Ma accre- Craton was driven into counterclockwise rotation,
tion of the African and South American terranes to which imparted clockwise rotation to the North Aus-
AntarcticaAustraliaIndia, through the 320 Ma mer- tralia Craton, modelled by dextral shear along small
ging with Laurussia to form Pangaea, until breakup circles about a pole in the Pacific. A fold belt was
between 180 Ma and 100 Ma (Figures 1 and 2). extruded between the West African and Congo
The name Gondwanaland was introduced in 1885 Cratons, and another between the Congo and Ama-
by Eduard Suess for the regions with the Glossopteris zonia Cratons. The cycle ended at about 500 Ma with
flora, in particular the Gondwana System of peni- final convergence along the Palaeo-Pacific margin and
nsular India. In 1912 Alfred Wegener interpreted uplift and cooling in Gondwanaland. The heat emit-
Gondwanaland as the supercontinent with Gond- ted during convergence, added to that generated
wanan floras. Later there was a view that Gondwana- during the Pan-Gondwanaland cycle, built buoyancy
land should be replaced by Gondwana, which, into Gondwanaland by underplating the lower crust
interpreted as Land of the Gonds, included one with mafic magma to promote isostatic uplift and
land already. Semantic confusion of supercontinent concomitant downwearing.
and stratigraphical system was averted when wana The shoreline alongside Antarctica, through Austra-
was found to stand for forest, so that Gond- lia and north-west India, continued along the northern
wanaland means the supercontinent and Gondwana margin to the Levant and north-east Africa, with mar-
means the Indian kingdom of forest dwellers. The ine sediment deposited in belts of terrigenous, mixed,
distinction is valuable because the Gondwana and carbonate facies across West Africa and south-
facies started only after Gondwanaland merged with wards (in modern coordinates) into South America
Laurussia to form Pangaea. However, not all workers (past the north pole) and then across the Damara fold
use this terminology. belt, to link with carbonate in the Transantarctic
This account of Gondwanaland is told through a Mountains, and over flood basalt on the Australian
set of maps that stretch from assembly, through the platform. In the south-east, a newly generated mar-
merger with Laurussia to form Pangaea, to breakup. ginal basin started to close by north-eastward-directed
subduction beneath a volcanic arc.
Above subducting slabs, the margin includes gran-
EarlyMiddle Cambrian (530500 Ma) ite in the Suwannee terrane of Florida, granite in
In the EarlyMiddle Cambrian, Gondwanaland was Argentina and beside a rift projected towards the
bounded to the north (at the modern coordinates Transantarctic Mountains, the string of Ross plutons,
of Africa) by terranes now in Laurentia, Europe, and the Delamerian granites, and granites in north-eastern
Asia, and to the west and south by a trench (Figures 3 Australia. The Prydz-Leeuwin Belt and Mozambique
and 4). The interior was crossed by fold belts generated Orogenic Belt were metamorphosed.
during the terminal Pan-Gondwanaland (600500 Ma)
deformation, which endowed Gondwanaland with a
Early Ordovician (490458 Ma)
thick buoyant crust and lithosphere, and nonmarine
siliciclastic deposits behind a peripheral shoreline. In the Early Ordovician the north pole lay in the Sahara
Between 650 Ma and 570 Ma, stress 1 (Figure 3) was (Figure 5), but ice did not appear until 444 Ma. Aus-
generated from the oblique collisions of, first, Avalo- tralia was crossed by the (Larapintine) sea behind
niaCadomia with the West African Craton and, se- a magmatic arc generated by westwards-directed
cond, West Gondwanaland with East Gondwanaland subduction of ocean floor that was flooded by fans of
during the closure of the Mozambique Ocean. The quartzose sediment from Antarctica.
West African Craton, which was rotated counter- Areas of Pan-Gondwanaland deformation had
clockwise, imparted clockwise rotation to the Ama- cooled. The shoreline lapped the Beardmore Shelf
zonia Craton, which, in turn, rotated the Congo and Table Mountain Shelf. In the ancestral Parana
GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA 129

Basin, north-east-trending rift basins filled with non- crops out in a 1500 km long belt in the eastern Andes.
marine detritus, including rhyolitic volcaniclastics. Farther south, the uppermost Don Braulio Formation
Beach sand was deposited in Florida, and carbonate is not glacigenic. The Malvinokaffric (zoogeograph-
was deposited around the ancestral Sierra Pampeanas, ical) Realm occupied South America, southern Africa,
which were intruded by granite. and Antarctica before it disappeared in the Middle
The Avalonian terranes drifted away from Africa at Devonian.
470 Ma in the first of many transfers of material from In Antarctica, the nonmarine Crashsite Group in
Gondwanaland to the northern continents. the Ellsworth Mountains lay behind a zone of de-
formation and metamorphism that extended through
Marie Byrd Land and New Zealand into Eastern and
Late Ordovician (458443 Ma) Central Australia, including the Melbourne Terrane
The end-Ordovician glaciation affected Saharan and Benambran Highlands (BH). Evaporites were
Africa and southern AfricaSouth America (Figure 6). deposited in the Bonaparte Basin.
Glacial advances and retreats climaxed with a big
advance at the end of the Ordovician (444443 Ma).
Early Devonian (418394 Ma)
In the Sahara, directional structures indicate uplands
including Sudan and Arabia. Interglacial marine in- In the Early Devonian the south pole lay off Pata-
cursions swept over nonmarine glacigenic landforms gonia but glacigenic deposits are unknown. Laurentia
and sediment. Distal glacimarine deposits extend was about to make contact (Figure 8). Shelves in
over much of the northern margin of AfricaArabia, Arabia and North Africa widened during a marine
including the marginal terranes. Other ice centres on transgression from the Lochkovian (415 Ma) to the
uplands lay 3000 km away along the Pacific margin, Emsian (400 Ma) that formed a wide embayment
suggesting that proximity of uplands to the sea was a with its head at Accra. Carbonate sediment indicates
factor. Nonmarine glacigenic deposits are found in warm to moderate water, consistent with the tropical
Bolivia and Venezuela. latitude. The Sudan upland, which was peppered with
The interglacial sea received marine glacigenic ring complexes, shed sand into nonmarine basins,
sediment in the Volta and Bowe Basins, Iberia and including the Kufra Basin, which lay inland of the
Cadomia, North Africa, southern Turkey, and Arabia, marine Ghazalat Basin. Past Arabia, the shoreline
which were all fringed by nonmarine basins and continued through the Chitral area of Pakistan and
uplands and scattered anorogenic igneous complexes. northern India to north-west Australia.
The shoreline crossed northern India and continued The Emsian shoreline passed the Lolen Formation
alongside Western Australia and the North China and Bokkeveld Group. The rest of South America was
Shelf. The intermittent Larapintine Seaway produced crossed by the arms of a shallow sea between large
thick halite evaporites in the west. In the east, the sea islands that faced the Pacific margin on the west.
opened onto a convergent margin and magmatic arc. Granite was emplaced in the Sierra Pampeanas.
The shoreline passed the Beardmore Shelf to the The shoreline passed the Ellsworth Mountains and
embayments of the Table Mountain Shelf and Don Ohio Range and was backed by nonmarine sandstone
Braulio area. in the Pensacola Mountains, Beardmore Glacier area,
and South Victoria Land. In New Zealand, marine
sediment was deposited on terranes that amalgam-
Early Silurian (443 Ma)
ated at 415 Ma. Amalgamation of north-east and
At the beginning of the Silurian, the ice-sheets west Tasmania followed at 400 Ma. In south-east
contracted to a strip in North AfricaArabia and Australia, rivers deposited sediment in the wide
advanced over Brazil. In transgressing North Africa, back-arc region of granite intrusion behind a volcanic
the post-glacial sea accumulated glacigenic sediment, arc and subduction complex. Beyond a group of non-
including hot shales (which are sources of petroleum) marine deposits in the centre, evaporites were de-
with graptolites in the Fort Polignac Basin, shed from posited in the Bonaparte Basin, aeolian and playa
surrounding uplifts, including the Sudan upland, which deposits in the Canning Basin, and nonmarine
was intruded by anorogenic complexes (Figure 7). redbeds in the Carnarvon Basin.
Uplifts in South America likewise accumulated ice.
Glacimarine diamictites and shales were deposited in
the Parana Basin, including the Iapo Formation, and in
Late Devonian (382.5362 Ma)
the Parnaba Basin. Nonmarine diamictites were de- In the Late Devonian (Figure 9), the sea, initially (in the
posited in the eastern Parana Basin and the Jatoba Frasnian) still in North Africa and South America and
Basin. The marine diamictite of the Amazonas Basin accumulating black shale, retreated in the Strunian
130 GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA

Figure 1 Australia (red), associates in Gondwanaland (brown), and other continents and terranes (Laurentia, Baltica, Siberia,
Kazakhastan, Cimmeria, North and South China) through ten stages of the Palaeozoic. Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ
(2001) Atlas of Billion-Year Earth History of Australia and Neighbours in Gondwanaland. Sydney: GEMOC Press and C. R. Scotese.
GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA 131

Figure 2 Australia (red), associates in Gondwanaland (brown), and other continents and terranes through ten stages in the
Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ (2001) Atlas of Billion-Year Earth History of Australia and Neighbours
in Gondwanaland. Sydney: GEMOC Press and C. R. Scotese.
132 GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA
Figure 3 Early CambrianMiddle Cambrian (530500 Ma) tectonics of Gondwanaland, showing cratons and sense of rotation (narrow broken lines and arrows) grouped into composites
(enclosed by wide broken line): a, West African Craton; b, Congo Craton; c, AmazoniaRio de la Plata Craton; d, IndiaEast AntarcticaWest Australia Craton, bisected by the
Prydz-Leeuwin belt; e, North Australia Craton. Pan-Gondwanaland (600500 Ma) fold belts are orange. Ages are given in Ma. Circled numbers indicate stresses 1 and 2. DML, Dronning
Maud Land; LB, Leeuwin block; MOB, Mozambique orogenic belt; TAM, Transantarctic Mountains; WA, Western Australian Craton; BAS, back-arc spreading. Reproduced with permission
from Veevers JJ (2003) Pan-African is Pan-Gondwanaland: oblique convergence drives rotation during 650500 Ma assembly. Geology 31: 501504.
GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA 133
Figure 4 Early CambrianMiddle Cambrian (530500 Ma) palaeogeography, with shorelines (blue linedots away from the land) skirting fold belts (orange). Prospective terranes run from
West Avalonia to Cadomia and from Apulia to Sibumasu/North China. From west to east, the terranes on the north include: Ap, Apulia; Ma, Mani; Mn, Menderes; Ta, Taurus; Ki, Kirshehir;
SS, Sanandaj-Sirjan; Al, Alborz. Facies indicated as: t, terrigenous; m, mixed; and CO3, carbonate (Red Vs indicate volcanics, red squares granite). Other abbreviations: D, Damara fold belt;
S, Suwannee terrane; DE, Delamerian granites; R, Ross plutons and M, metamorphism. Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly
through 320 Ma merger in Pangaea to 185100 Ma breakup: supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric dating. Earth Science Reviews
134 GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA
Figure 5 Early Ordovician (490458 Ma) palaeogeography. N, position of north pole; orange horizontal shading, areas of Pan-Gondwanaland deformation. Reproduced with permission
from Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in Pangaea to 185100 Ma breakup: supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric
dating. Earth Science Reviews
GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA 135
Figure 6 Late Ordovician (458443 Ma) palaeogeography: DB, the glacimarine Don Braulio Formation; AR, Arabian upland; SU, Sudan upland; E, area of evaporite deposition;
anorogenic complex. Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in Pangaea to 185100 Ma breakup:
supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric dating. Earth Science Reviews
136 GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA
Figure 7 Early Silurian (443 Ma) palaeogeography. Shading as in Figure 6, with brown cross-hatching representing deformation and metamorphism. NM, nonmarine sediment in the
Sierra de la Ventana of Argentina; G, glacigenic sediment; FP, Fort Polignac Basin; SU, Sudan upland; red crosses, anorogenic complexes; I, Iapo Formation; DB, Don Braulio Formation; M,
Melbourne Terrane; BH, Benambran Highlands; E, evaporites. Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in
Pangaea to 185100 Ma breakup: supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric dating. Earth Science Reviews
GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA 137
Figure 8 Early Devonian (418394 Ma) palaeogeography: AC, Accra; SU, Sudan upland; KB, Kufra Basin; GB, Ghazalat Basin; CH, Chitral; LO, Lolen Formation; BG, Bokkeveld Group; EM,
Ellsworth Mountains; OR, Ohio Range; PM, Pensacola Mountains; B, Beardmore Glacier; SVL, South Victoria Land; E, evaporites; horizontal orange shading, large islands separated by
shallow sea; screw symbol, amalgamation of terranes. Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in Pangaea to
185100 Ma breakup: supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric dating. Earth Science Reviews
138 GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA
Figure 9 Late Devonian (382.5362 Ma) palaeogeography: GN, glacigenic nonmarine sediment; GM, glacigenic marine sediment; A, Arunta block; M, Busgrave block; D, Drummond
Basin; K, Kimberley block; P, reef facies. Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in Pangaea to 185100 Ma
breakup: supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric dating. Earth Science Reviews
GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA 139

(latest Devonian). Terranes started to break off in the north-east Africa, so the tillitic beds in North Africa
north-east leading to the generation of Palaeo-Tethys. were within 30 of the pole, but the glacigenic local-
The Centralian Superbasin, which had been subsiding ities of South America, between 25 and 60 from the
since 840 Ma, was initially dismembered during crustal pole, all nonmarine, reflect alpine glaciation.
shortening, and sediment flowed into the convergent South-eastern Australia was subjected to the
eastern Australia. Laurussia touched Gondwanaland. Kanimblan eastwest contraction, followed by wide-
In South America, black shale was deposited during ning of the volcanic arc and finally northsouth con-
the Frasnian, and glacigenic nonmarine sediment (gla- traction in megakinks. Similar events took place
cimarine sediment in the Amazon Basin) was deposited in northern Queensland. In between, nonmarine de-
during the end-Famennian regression. Glacigenic sedi- position in the Drummond Basin continued until
ment extended into adjacent Africa. In North Africa 330 Ma, when it was terminated by gentle folding,
Arabia, the depositional facies changed from detrital in part of the Alice Springs terminal folding and thrust-
the south to carbonate in the north. In southern Africa ing that dismembered the Centralian Superbasin, a
and Antarctica, the shoreline and nonmarine depocen- distant effect of the collision in north-west Africa.
tres remained in the same place as before. During con- The youngest preserved sediment in the foreland
tinuing westward-directed subduction, granite was basins of Central Australia is the 330 Ma Mount
intruded in North Victoria Land and northwards, Eclipse Sandstone.
where volcanic rifts opened after the contractional
Tabberabberan Orogeny. Farther north a magmatic Mid-Carboniferous, Namurian s9000
arc and subduction complex developed behind the
(327311.5 Ma)
trench.
In central Australia, the overthrusting Arunta block In the Namurian, Laurussia and Gondwanaland
disrupted the wider Amadeus Basin and culminated merged to form Pangaea by definitive right-lateral
in 5 km of uplift reflected in extensive alluvial fans. contact along the Variscan suture, and the collisional
Similar sediments were shed southwards from the stress and subsequent uplift was felt as far afield as
overthrusting Musgrave block. In the Amadeus Australia (Figure 11). The south pole had moved 60
Basin, eastward flow joined the northward flow in since 335 Ma to a location in Marie Byrd Land, and
the Drummond Basin to debouch on the margin. In ice sheets developed on the tectonic uplands south of
the Bonaparte Basin, alluvial fans were succeeded by 25 S in South America and south of 45 S elsewhere.
a reef complex. Likewise in the Canning Basin, gravel The collisional uplands of equatorial north-west
fans from the Kimberley block mingled with a reef Africa and adjacent Europe were subjected to intense
complex on a platform in front of a deep axis; in the rainfall and backwearing.
south, paralic sediment was deposited in an arm of Rapid uplift and concomitant downwearing
the sea. In the Carnarvon Basin, shelf limestone gave must have produced copious sediment, yet the de-
way to reef facies. positional record over the Australian platform is
blank. Where could the sediment have gone? The
paradox can be resolved by postulating that uplift
Early Carboniferous, Visean (335 Ma) combined with rapid polar movement triggered a
In the Early Carboniferous, the Moroccan salient of continent-wide glaciation so that sediment shed
Gondwanaland collided with the Armorican salient from the nunataks of the central uplifts and from
of Laurussia. Palaeo-Tethys further separated the the eastern cordillera was carried away in the ice-
Chinese blocks (Figure 10). sheet. Only in the east was nonmarine glacial sedi-
In North AfricaArabia, the shoreline, bounded by ment deposited by glaciers that broke through the
nonmarine sediment, penetrated almost to Nigeria. In eastern cordillera. During its retreat in the earliest
the east, uplifts include the Sudan Arch, the Central Permian the ice released its load of sediment. Ice-
Arabian Arch, and the Summan Platform; igneous sheets continued across Antarctica through the
centres include rhyolite. Ross and Gamburtsev areas, and into adjacent
In South America, an Early Carboniferous con- India and southern Africa, through uplands called
traction with arc magmatism (not shown) led to Windhoek, Cargonian, and proto-fold belt.
deformation and uplift that drove out the sea. Flood- A separate ice-sheet covered uplands in South
plain deposits with coal are found in the Lake Titicaca America, which shed glacimarine sediment in front
area. Glacigenic nonmarine sediment was deposited of a volcanic arc.
in the Pimenta Bueno, Jauru, Solimoes, central Ama- Now part of Pangaea, Gondwanaland underwent
zonas, and ParnabaItacaja areas. The pole was in a (Pangaean) cycle of tectonic and climatic events.
140 GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA
Figure 10 Early Carboniferous (335 Ma) palaeogeography: SA, Sudan Arch; CAA, Central Arabian Arch; SP, Summan Platform; RH, rhyolite; LT, Lake Titicaca; GN, glacigenic nonmarine
sediment; PB, Pimenta Bueno; J, Jauru; IT, Itacaja; G, tillitic beds; KA, Kanimblan contraction; D, Drummond Basin; AS, Alice Springs; MES, Mount Eclipse Sandstone; red shading, igneous
centres; orange upland; lime-green nonmarine fringe behind shoreline. Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma
merger in Pangaea to 185100 Ma breakup: supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric dating. Earth Science Reviews
GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA 141
Figure 11 Mid-Carboniferous, Namurian (327311.5 Ma), palaeogeography. Pink arrows in central and eastern Australia indicate farfield stress. GN, glacigenic nonmarine sediment; R,
Ross area; G, Gamburtsev area; W, Windhoek upland; C, Cargonian upland; PFB, proto-fold belt; GM; glacimarine sediment; vertical orange shading, collisional stress and uplift.
Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in Pangaea to 185100 Ma breakup: supercontinental tectonics
via stratigraphy and radiometric dating. Earth Science Reviews
142 GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA

TectonicClimatic Model of the Gondwanaland platform (stage 2, extension I) to


Pangaea-to-Dispersed-Continents trap sediment released from the ice (Figure 13). Ter-
ranes left the northern margin, and rift zones pene-
Cycle trated East Africa and between India and Australia.
The heightened radioactivity of continental rocks led Granite moved into transtensional rifts, driven by the
to the idea that a system of ascending convection right-lateral shear between Laurussia and Gondwa-
(monsoonal) currents beneath an insulating super- naland. Coal with the Glossopteris flora succeeds
continent would spread out at the top and eventually glacigenic sediment in all parts of Gondwanaland
break the supercontinent into individual continents. except tropical South America and Africa. A mag-
Changes in the pattern and vigour of mantle convec- matic and orogenic zone along the Panthalassan
tion would increase atmospheric carbon dioxide, cre- margin (Alexander Du Toits Samfrau Geosyncline)
ating a greenhouse effect. Heat was released in five developed in South America.
stages (Figure 12). The Sakmarian (288 Ma) postglacial shoreline ran
along the margin in North Africa and made broad
. Stage 1 (platform lacuna). The Earth comprises the
indentations across Arabia and India (the India
single continent (Pangaea) and ocean (Pantha-
Australia Rift Zone) and narrow indentations across
lassa). The amounts of spreading and subduction
north-west Australia. It lapped the magmatic zone of
are minimal. Minimal turnover of mantle material
eastern Australia and enclosed a gulf between Australia
leads to minimal venting of carbon dioxide and
and Antarctica and another between Antarctica and
an icehouse climatic state. Maximal continental
South America.
freeboard is due to, first, the short and narrow
The Gamburtsev upland shed glacial sediment into
mid-ocean ridge displacing less water, second, the
southern Africa, India, and south-west Australia, and
continental crust having a maximal mean thickness
the Beardmore-Ross upland continued to shed sedi-
because its ocean frontage of thin (rifted) crust is
ment into south-east Australia and New Zealand. Ice
minimal, and, third, the self-induced Pangaean heat
extended across the Congo Basin into North Africa
store and accelerated mantle plumes generating a
and Arabia, with outwash material along the margin.
geoid high. The Earth is dominated by dry land.
The inception of Gondwanan glaciation is linked
. Stage 2. The heat impounded beneath Pangaea soon
to the lowered input of carbon dioxide in Pangaean
leads to localized thinning of the Pangaean crust and
stage 1, the removal of atmospheric carbon dioxide
lithosphere, initially by sagging of cratonic basement
during accelerated erosion and weathering of the
and rifting of orogenic basement (extension I).
uplands, and the blocked oceanic circulation at the
. Stage 3. Continued crustal thinning leads to rifting
equator.
between the incipient continents (extension II).
. Stage 4. Pangaea breaks up by spreading of intra- Glossopteris of the Gondwana palaeobotanical p0165

province made voluminous coals during the entire


Pangaean rift oceans to form dispersed continents
Permian (Figure 14). The Eurameria province
and oceans. The mid-ocean-ridge spreading and
extended into northern South America and Africa,
subduction are maximal, leading to maximal carbon
and all three provinces Eurameria, Gondwana, and
dioxide venting and greenhouse conditions. Low
Cathaysia were juxtaposed in Arabia. The boundary
continental freeboard arises from, first, the mid-
between the Eurameria and Gondwana provinces
ocean ridges displacing more water, second, the
approximates the ice limit (Figure 13). The Variscides
crust of the continents having a minimal average
also contain coal but without Glossopteris.
thickness because its ocean frontage of thin crust is
maximal, and, third, the rapidly depleting Pangaean
heat store and decelerated mantle plumes supporting Late Permian (255250 Ma)
a lower geoid. The Earth is dominated by ocean.
In the Late Permian the sea retreated to the margins
. Stage 5. The depleted heat store leads to slower
except in the north-east (Figure 15). The magmatic
spreading and subduction and preferential closing
orogen (Gondwanides I) had propagated past north-
of the rift oceans, so that eventually the continents
ern Queensland. It was backed by the Karoo foreland
reform Pangaea and the oceans reform Panthalassa
basin, which was occupied by a vast lake with en-
in a return to Stage 1.
demic nonmarine bivalves (preserved in the Water-
ford Formation, which extends into the Estrada
Nova Formation of South America). Smaller lakes
Earliest Permian (302280 Ma) crossed the rest of southern and central Africa.
Following a lacuna (Pangaean stage 1), the heat be- In eastern Australia, volcanogenic sediment
neath Pangaea drove differential subsidence of the flowed across a foreland basin and forebulge into
GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA 143
Figure 12 Diagrammatic model of the single continent (Pangaea) and ocean (Panthalassa) alternating with dispersed continents and oceans through five stages. Reproduced with
permission from Veevers JJ (2001) Atlas of Billion-Year Earth History of Australia and Neighbours in Gondwanaland. Sydney: GEMOC Press.
144 GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA
Figure 13 Earliest Permian (302280 Ma) palaeogeography. Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in
Pangaea to 185100 Ma breakup: supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric dating. Earth Science Reviews
GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA 145
Figure 14 Distribution of Permian coal. The Permo-Tethys configuration pertains to the mid-Permian. E, Eurameria; G, Gondwana; C, Cathaysia. Reproduced with permission from
Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in Pangaea to 185100 Ma breakup: supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric dating.
Earth Science Reviews
146 GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA
f0075 Figure 15 Late Permian (255250 Ma) palaeogeography: The pink vertical shading indicates the magmatic orogen of Gondwanides I, the red open circles anorogenic igneous complexes,
the red square pattern the central Gamburtsev upland. K, Karoo foreland basin; W, Waterford Formation; EN, Estrada Nova Formation; G, Galilee Basin; C, Cooper Basin; P, Perth Basin; Ca,
Carnarvon Basin; BL, Beaver Lake Basin; M, Mahanadi Basin; P-G, Pranhita-Godavari Basin; Z, Zambezi Basin; PT, Panjal Traps, IND-AUS RZ, IndiaAustralia Rift Zone. Reproduced with
permission from Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in Pangaea to 185100 Ma breakup: supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and
radiometric dating. Earth Science Reviews
GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA 147

the epicratonic Galilee and Cooper Basins, and the Early Jurassic (200184 Ma)
Kin Kin Terrane docked. The Gamburtsev upland
continued to send sediment into the Perth and Car- The vast 200 Ma Central Atlantic magmatic province
narvon Basins, through Beaver Lake to the Mahanadi of tholeiitic flows, dykes, and sills preceded the 190
Basin, and into the Pranhita-Godavari, Zambezi, and 180 Ma breakup of Pangaea (stage 4; spreading of
Karoo Basins. Broad fluviolacustrine basins covered intra-Pangaean rift oceans) by seafloor spreading
North Africa. Volcanics, including the Panjal Traps, (Figure 19). Another vast province of tholeiitic flows
erupted in the IndiaAustralia Rift Zone and in and sills was erupted between 184 Ma and 179 Ma
Arabia. Anorogenic complexes erupted in North in the back-arc region between southern Africa and
Africa. south-eastern Australia, and southernmost South
America was covered by felsic volcanics that have
been dated at 187 Ma and younger.
Early Triassic (250235 Ma)
The end of the Permian saw a much lowered sea-level, End-Jurassic (145 Ma)
and Glossopteris vanished as part of the end-Permian
extinction event (see Palaeozoic: End Permian Extinc- By the end of the Jurassic, the Central Atlantic had
tions). The Triassic saw global warming and the reached a width of 1000 km and was continuous
deposition of redbeds. The tectonic situation was through the Straits of Gibraltar with Neo-Tethys
unchanged. The Triassic sea returned to its former and its complex of marginal basins (Figure 20). The
level, and nonmarine deposition resumed in most of north-eastern Indian Ocean had opened at 156 Ma by
the previous areas (Figure 16). seafloor spreading, wedging Argo Land off Australia,
and the western Indian Ocean had begun to open at
150 Ma by seafloor spreading in the Natal and Somali
Mid-Triassic (234227 Ma) basins.
In the mid-Triassic the Panthalassan margin was The Chon Aike volcanics and a granite in Chile
terminally deformed (Gondwanides II). Deposition provide evidence of continuing subduction. The Ant-
continued in South America and in North Africa- arctic margin was rifted in the Explora Wedge and
Arabia, which was intruded by anorogenic magmas Byrd Subglacial Mountains. Scattered magmatism
(Figure 17). continued in North AfricaArabia. Nonmarine sedi-
ment was deposited in large areas of South America
and Africa, on the north-western margin of India, in the
Late Triassic (227206 Ma) rifts at the triple junction between India, Antarctica,
During the late Triassic, the platform relaxed in and Australia, and in north-west and eastern Australia.
Pangaean stage 3 (Extension II), and, following the
Early and Middle Triassic coal gap, plant diversity Mid-Cretaceous, AlbianCenomanian
and peat thickness recovered. Coal measures found
accommodation space in Gondwanides II as the
(ca. 100 Ma)
Molteno Coal Measures, the Lashly Formation, the Mid-Cretaceous shorelines, nonmarine basins, and
Topfer Coal Measures, the New Town Coal Measures igneous rocks are shown here on a pre-breakup base
of Tasmania, and the Ipswich Coal Measures of to maintain the same scale as previous figures; the
Queensland (Figure 18). On the craton, the Leigh space occupied by the oceans is denoted by a red
Creek Coal Measures were deposited on Neoproter- broken line except between Antarctica and Australia,
ozoic basement, and the carbonaceous sediment of which were about to break up (Figure 21).
the Peera Peera Formation filled the initial Eromanga By the mid-Cretaceous, Gondwanaland had split
Basin. Carbonaceous material is found in the into four pieces, with one of these about to split into
McKelvey Member and the Dubrajpur and Colora- two. Earth had entered the state of dispersed contin-
dos formations. Northern South America was crossed ents. The 94 Ma end-Cenomanian shoreline made its
by volcanics, and North Africa was dotted with maximum penetration into North Africa and north-
anorogenic magmas. ern South America and its minimum into Australia.
An arm of the sea crossed North AmericaAfrica Earlier, in the Aptian (115 Ma), two-fifths of Austra-
to produce evaporites; along its edge, grabens (Ex- lia had been covered by an epeiric sea; in the Ceno-
tension II) from Texas to Nova Scotia and Morocco manian, the shoreline retreated to the present coast
filled with sediment that contained coal, as in and beyond because uplift outpaced the eustatically
the Productive Coal Measures of Maryland and rising sea; other continents sank passively beneath
Virginia. the rising sea. Australias behaviour was caused by a
148 GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA
Figure 16 EarlyMiddle Triassic (250234 Ma) palaeogeography. The orange vertical shading indicates uplands, the purplish wiggly lines zones of deformation, and red dots granitic
plutons. Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in Pangaea to 185100 Ma breakup: supercontinental
tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric dating. Earth Science Reviews
GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA 149
Figure 17 Mid-Triassic (234227 Ma) palaeogeography. Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in
Pangaea to 185100 Ma breakup: supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric dating. Earth Science Reviews
150 GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA
Figure 18 Late Triassic (215 Ma) palaeogeography: C, coal; CS, carbonaceous sediment; NTCM, New Town Coal Measures. Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ (2004)
Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in Pangaea to 185100 Ma breakup: supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric dating. Earth Science
Reviews
GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA 151
Figure 19 Early Jurassic (200184 Ma) palaeogeography (ages are given in Ma). Areas covered by tholeiitic flows and sills (shown in pink, with outcrops in red) include the 200 Ma Central
Atlantic magmatic province and another behind the Panthalassan margin that stretches from the Karoo through the Transantarctic Mountains, Tasmania, and New Zealand, to south-east
Australia; individual localities, from left to right, are KY, Kimberley; LM, Lebombo monocline; DML, Dronning Maud Land; EW, Explora Wedge; CL, Coats Land; D, Dufek intrusion; BSB, Byrd
Subglacial Mountains; TM, Thiel Mountains; DP, Dawson Peak; RE, Ross Embayment; PV, Pearse Valley; VL, Victoria Land; KD, Kirwans Dolerite; orange upland; lime-green nonmarine
fringe behind shoreline. Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in Pangaea to 185100 Ma breakup:
supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric dating. Earth Science Reviews
152 GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA
Figure 20 Late Jurassic (150 Ma) palaeogeography: EW, Explora Wedge; BSB, Byrd Subglacial Mountains. Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from
650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in Pangaea to 185100 Ma breakup: supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric dating. Earth Science Reviews
GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA 153
Figure 21 Mid-Cretaceous (ca. 100 Ma) palaeogeography of the individual continents, which are now dispersed, as shown in Figure 2, but which are shown together for cartographic
convenience (the space occupied by the oceans is denoted by a red broken line). Ages of breakup are given in Ma. Also shown is the Aptian epeiric sea on Australia between land (blue
pattern). Palaeolatitudes pertain to the conjoined AustraliaAntarctica, and to the separate South America, Africa, and India. C, coal; P, nonmarine sediment with Aptian palynomorphs; M,
marine deposits. Reproduced with permission from Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in Pangaea to 185100 Ma breakup:
supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric dating. Earth Science Reviews
154 GONDWANALAND AND GONDWANA

change in the vector of the Pacific Plate with respect In: Tankard AJ, Suarez-Soruco R, and Welsink HJ
to Australia, from head-on collision in the Aptian to (eds.) Petroleum Basins of South America, pp. 129
transcurrence or side-swipe in the Cenomanian, with 161. American Association of Petroleum Geologists
concomitant cessation of subduction-related volcan- Memoir 62. Tulsa: American Association of Petrol-
eum Geologists.
ism and uplift.
Gaetani M (ed.) (2003) Peri-Tethys Programme. Palaeogeog-
In Antarctica, coal is found on Alexander Island
raphy, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 196: 1263.
and in Prydz Bay; nonmarine sediment with Aptian Nance RD and Thompson MD (eds.) (1996) Avalonian and
palynomorphs is found in offshore Antarctica, with Related Peri-Gondwanan Terranes of the Circum-North
marine deposits on the opposite side of the continent. Atlantic. Special Paper 304. Boulder: Geological Society
The Pacific arc glowed. Magmatic activity elsewhere of America.
was confined to volcanism in Brazil and anorogenic Schandelmeier H and Reynolds P-O (eds.) (1997) Palaeo-
intrusion in North AfricaArabia. geographicPalaeotectonic Atlas of North-Eastern
Africa, Arabia, and Adjacent Areas. Rotterdam:
Balkema.
Cenozoic Aftermath (650 Ma) Selley RC (1997) The sedimentary basins of northwest
During their dispersal (Figure 2), the Gondwanaland Africa: stratigraphy and sedimentation. In: Selley RC
continents made new connections: South America (ed.) African Basins, pp. 316. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
with North America, India and AfricaArabia with Stampfli G, Borel G, Cavazza W, Mosar J, and Ziegler PA
(eds.) (2001) The Paleotectonic Atlas of the PeriTethyan
Eurasia, and Australia (almost) with south-east Asia.
Domain. CD-ROM. Katlenburg-Lindau: European
Antarctica alone remained unattached. Microconti-
Geophysical Society.
nents (terranes) from the northern margin of Gond- Veevers JJ (ed.) (2000) Billion-Year Earth History of
wanaland crossed successive generations of Tethys to Australia and Neighbours in Gondwanaland. Sydney:
lodge in Eurasia; New Zealand and New Caledonia GEMOC Press.
remained isolated in the southern Pacific Ocean. Veevers JJ and Powell CMcA (eds.) (1994) Permian-Triassic
basins and foldbelts along the Panthalassan margin of
See Also Gondwanaland. Geological Society of America Memoir
187. Boulder: Geological Society of America.
Africa: Pan-African Orogeny; North African Phanerozoic. Veevers JJ and Tewari RC (1995) Gondwana Master Basin
Antarctic. Argentina. Australia: Phanerozoic; Tasman of Peninsular India between Tethys and the interior of the
Orogenic Belt. Brazil. New Zealand. Palaeozoic: End Gondwanaland Province of Pangea. Geological Society
Permian Extinctions. Pangaea. of America Memoir 187. Boulder: Geological Society of
America.
Further Reading Veevers JJ (2001) Atlas of Billion-Year Earth History of
Australia and Neighbours in Gondwanaland. Sydney:
Crowell JC (1999) Pre-Mesozoic Ice Ages: Their Bearing on GEMOC Press.
Understanding the Climate System. Geological Society of Veevers JJ (2004) Gondwanaland from 650500 Ma assem-
America Memoir 192. Boulder: Geological Society of bly through 320 Ma merger in Pangea to 185100 Ma
America. breakup: supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and
Franca AB, Milani EJ, Schneider RL, et al. (1995) radiometric dating. Earth Science Reviews [submitted
Phanerozoic correlation in southern South America. November 2003].

GRANITE
See IGNEOUS ROCKS: Granite

You might also like