115 million years ago, it seems crazy, but an entire continent disappeared from the face of the Earth. Argoland, a landmass that separated from Australia millions of years ago, had been a geological mystery until now..
Researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands have achieved quite an achievement by discovering the exact location on maps of this lost continent beneath the eastern islands of Southeast Asia.
This is somewhat simple because the division of continents usually leaves traces in fossils, rocks and ancient mountain formations, however, Argoland put all these ideas in check.
For seven years, geologist Eldert Advokaat led a research team that worked tirelessly to solve this enigma. “We were literally faced with islands of information, which is why our research took so long. We spent seven years putting the puzzle together,” explains Advokaat.
Finally, they reached a conclusion that changed the perspective of the problem: What if Argoland was not a single solid mass, but a series of continental fragments?
They discover Argoland, the lost continent under Southeast Asia that could reveal more of Earth’s secrets
Instead of one continent that separated into two clearly defined parts, Argoland split into numerous fragments, creating a network of microcontinents beneath the islands east of Indonesia.. This new vision allowed scientists to reconstruct the process that made this continent over the last 155 million years.
“The situation in Southeast Asia is very different from places like Africa and South America, where a continent was clearly broken into two pieces,” Advokaat comments in the press release. “Argoland was divided into many different fragments. That obstructed our view of the continent’s journey,” he adds.
As if that were not enough, This discovery not only reveals the secrets of Earth’s past, but could also make it easier to understand the Wallace Linean invisible barrier in Southeast Asia that divides the fauna of Australia and Southeast Asia.
This also poses a big problem for scientists. To the west of the line, there are placental mammals such as apes, tigers and elephants, which also live in Southeast Asia, while to the east you can find marsupials and cockatoos, typical of Australia.
The discovery now of Argoland could give rise to answering more questions and thus explain this division and help better understand the evolution of biodiversity and the evolution of climate in the region.