Gondwanaland

Also called: Gondwana · Topic: Continental Drift, Sea-floor Spreading and Plate Tectonics · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 1 "Geographical Diversity of India"; Class 11, Ch 4 "Distribution of Oceans and Continents"

Meaning

Gondwanaland (also called Gondwana) was the large southern landmass. It contained today's South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, Australia and Antarctica, joined together as one block. It became a separate landmass again when Pangaea (the single supercontinent) began to break up about 200 million years ago.

Gondwanaland matters for UPSC because it explains a lot about India. It tells us why India shares rocks and fossils with the southern continents, and why India's main coal lies in Gondwana rocks. It also explains how India's drift north raised the Himalayas.

Explanation

How Gondwanaland formed and broke up (cause → process → result)

• Older than Pangaea
• The southern block itself first came together about 600-550 million years ago. It lasted as a southern supercontinent until about 180 million years ago [3].

• Later it joined the northern lands to form Pangaea. Pangaea was fully put together by the Early Permian period, about 299 to 273 million years ago [4].

• Pangaea splits

• Pangaea began to break up about 200 million years ago. USGS gives a range of 225 to 200 million years ago [2].
• It split into two big landmasses: Laurasia in the north and Gondwanaland in the south.

• The South African geologist Alexander Du Toit worked out this two-part model. He was a professor at Witwatersrand University and a strong supporter of Wegener [2].

• The Tethys Sea forms between them

• The Tethys Sea was a long, narrow sea between Laurasia and Gondwanaland.

• Mud and sand settled on its floor. These sediments were later pushed up to form the Himalayas.

• Gondwanaland breaks into today's continents

• India broke away from its old neighbour, Africa, and moved north towards Asia (NCERT, Class 7).
• India then hit Asia. The collision closed the Tethys Sea and raised the Himalayas.

Its parts and its name

Feature	Detail
Hemisphere	Southern
Present-day pieces	South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, Australia, Antarctica
Name comes from	The Gond region of central India
Northern partner	Laurasia (North America, Europe, most of Asia, but not India)

• The region is called "Gondwana" after the Gond people of central India. Its rocks and fossils match those of Africa, South America, Australia and Antarctica.

Proof that these lands were once joined

• Glossopteris (an extinct seed plant that once covered the southern continents) [6]
• Its fossils are found in India, Australia, South America, Africa and Antarctica.

• One plant could not have spread across wide seas and very different climates. These lands must have been joined [2][3].

• Mesosaurus (a small freshwater reptile) is found only in southern Africa and South America. A freshwater animal could not have swum across the Atlantic [3].

• Jigsaw fit: the coasts of South America and Africa fit together, and their rock layers match [2][3].
• Coal in Antarctica: coal forms from tropical plants, so Antarctica once lay nearer the equator [2].
• Glacial deposits (rock and soil left by ice sheets) in warm, dry places such as the Vaal River valley, South Africa: these lands were once near the South Pole [2].

Where it fits in the supercontinent cycle

• The supercontinent cycle means continents join together and split apart, again and again, through geological time [4].
• Order (oldest → youngest): Rodinia (about 1 billion years ago) → Gondwana as a southern block (about 600-550 million years ago) → Pangaea (Early Permian) → Laurasia and Gondwanaland (from about 200 million years ago) → today's continents [3][4].

Where it occurs

• Former parts of Gondwanaland (world): South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, Australia and Antarctica.
• Gond region, central India: the region the landmass is named after.
• Gondwana Supergroup, India: a thick set of rock layers laid down in the time of Gondwanaland. It holds India's main stores of coal, refractory clays (clays that can stand very high heat) and coal bed methane (natural gas trapped in coal seams) [5].

• These rocks lie unconformably on much older Proterozoic rocks [5]. "Unconformably" means there is a time gap between the two rock layers. In that gap, rocks were either worn away or never laid down.

• Damodar Basin, Jharkhand: fossils of at least 14 species of Glossopteris and its close relatives have been found in the coal mines here. The first-ever juvenile male cone of Glossopteris was also found here [6].

• Marine Gondwana Fossil Park, Manendragarh (district Sarguja, Chhattisgarh): it has sea fossils from the Permian period (280-240 million years ago) in the Talchir Formation of the Gondwana Supergroup [5].
• Vaal River valley, South Africa: glacial deposits that show this part of Gondwanaland once lay near the South Pole [2].
• Antarctica: coal deposits that show it once lay nearer the equator [2].

Don't confuse with

• Laurasia: the northern landmass (North America, Europe, most of Asia). India is in Asia today, but it was part of Gondwanaland, not Laurasia.
• Pangaea: the single supercontinent ("all earth") that held all the continents. Gondwanaland was its southern half after the split.
• Panthalassa: the one huge ocean ("all water") around Pangaea. The Pacific is thought to be what is left of it. The Tethys Sea was different: it was the narrow sea between Laurasia and Gondwanaland.
• Rodinia: a much older supercontinent from about 1 billion years ago. It began to break up more than 700 million years ago [3][4]. Gondwana came after it.

Prelims Hooks

• Gondwanaland = South America + Africa + Madagascar + India + Australia + Antarctica. Trap: India belongs to Gondwanaland, not Laurasia.
• Gondwanaland is named after the Gond region of central India.
• Pangaea began to split about 200 million years ago into Laurasia (north) and Gondwanaland (south), with the Tethys Sea between them. Alexander Du Toit developed this two-part model [2].
• Glossopteris fossils occur in India, Australia, South America, Africa and Antarctica. Mesosaurus fossils occur only in southern Africa and South America [3].
• Marine Gondwana Fossil Park, Manendragarh, is in Chhattisgarh. Its fossils are Permian, from the Talchir Formation [5].
• Order: Rodinia → Gondwana (about 600-550 million years ago) → Pangaea → Laurasia/Gondwanaland → today's continents [3][4].

Mains Points

• Gondwana rocks and India's energy security (GS-III)
• India's main coal, refractory clays and coal bed methane lie in the Gondwana Supergroup [5].

• These rocks were laid down in old river basins such as the Damodar. This is why India's coal belt is found in eastern and central states like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

• Gondwanaland and the shape of India's land (GS-I)

• India broke away from Africa and drifted north.
• Its collision with Asia closed the Tethys Sea and pushed up the Himalayas.

• This one event explains India's young fold mountains, its old peninsular block and many of its earthquake zones.

• Gondwanaland as proof of continental drift

• Matching fossils (Glossopteris, Mesosaurus), matching rocks and old climate signs (coal in Antarctica, glacial deposits in South Africa) across the southern continents strongly backed Wegener's theory [2][3].
• Wegener could not explain the mechanism (the force that moves continents) [2][3]. Sea-floor spreading (Hess, 1960s) later supplied it. This shows how science corrects itself.

Related concepts

• Abraham Ortelius
• Alfred Wegener
• Continental drift theory
• Pangaea
• Panthalassa
• Laurasia

Read more

• Continental drift: Wegener, Pangaea and the break-up