How did Gondwana break up exactly?

The southern continents – more than half the world’s land area – share much geological and tectonic history. The formation of Gondwana as a ‘supercontinent’ was completed at the start of Phanerozoic times, about 540 million years ago (540 Ma). It remained intact as a single large landmass for two-thirds of the time between then and now, eventually starting to fragment in the Jurassic period, about 184 Ma.

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During Early Cretaceous times, especially in the interval 140-120 Ma, most of the present continental outlines were established and these fragments started moving apart to give the familiar geography of today with almost half of the world’s oceans now separating them. Understanding this process is essential to awareness of the consequent stratigraphy of the margins of the southern continents and their paleo-climatology during Mesozoic and Cenozoic times.

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The research presented here attempts to define, step by step, the history of Gondwana dispersal against the geological time-scale and in geometrical detail. While evidence of all sorts has been used, it is the careful interpretation of the topography of the sea floor, revealed in detail by satellite gravimetry only since about 1997, that has been key to this new understanding. The continental margins formed in the process - and the rifts that have penetrated but not separated the present-day continents - are of immense economic importance.

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Solutions for the development of the South Atlantic and Indian oceans, particularly through the Cretaceous Quiet Zone (121 - 83 Ma), proved to be relatively straightforward. A credible model for the tectonic history around the Bouvet triple junction between these two oceans proved much more elusive. I now have a defensible model, including a constraining 'South America-Antarctica Corridor'. The intention is to turn my attention now to describing the results rather than further fine-tuning of the model. After many iterations, the model appears to be robust and ready for independent assessment. Feedback is, as always, very welcome.

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I have tried to keep this website as up-to-date and accesible as possible. The links at the top of this page lead to a large resource of information: Preface 2025 is an introduction to the project as a whole; a series of over 20 Animations illustrates the principles of plate modelling and the main results of the work; the Research Updates page includes a series of explanatory posters and descriptive texts; Appendices list the Euler rotation poles and other supplementary information. Parts of the work already published may be traced on the Publications page.

Last update: 2026 May 5