Gondwanaland

Gondwanaland, ancient landmass that consisted of the present continents of South America, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica as well as the Indian subcontinent. Gondwanaland is believed to have been intact at least twice, about 350 million years ago and about 200 million years ago. Between these two periods all seven of the present-day continents probably formed a single landmass called Pangaea.

The idea that the southern continents were at one time united into a supercontinent was first proposed in 1885 by Austrian geologist Eduard Suess. He noted that all four continents have similar glacial deposits and fossils corresponding to the end of the Carboniferous Period and the beginning of the Permian Period (about 290 million years ago). However, these glacial deposits and fossils are absent from the northern continents. He named the ancient landmass Gondwanaland for a region in central India that displays the typical geological features of the Permian and Carboniferous periods. (see Plate Tectonics.)