Which of the following was NOT a part of Gondwanaland?

Question

Question

This question was previously asked in

SSC CGL 2020 Tier-I Official Paper 18 (Held On : 23 Aug 2021 Shift 3)

Answer 1

The correct answer is North America.

Key Points

Gondwanaland:
- It was an ancient supercontinent that broke up about 180 million years ago.
- The Gondwana land included India, Australia, South Africa, and South America as one single landmass.
- Gondwana became the largest piece of the continental crust of the Paleozoic.
- Gondwana existed from the Neoproterozoic period, that is, around 550 million years ago.
- During the Eocene period, the Drake passage was opened up separating Antarctica and South America.
- The continent of Gondwana was named by the Austrian scientist Eduard Suess, after the Gondwana region of central India which is derived from Sanskrit for 'forest of the Gonds'.
- As per the earlier definition, Gondwana was not considered a supercontinent, as the landmasses of Siberia, Laurentia, Baltica were separated from it.
- During the Paleozoic era, the largest piece of continental crust was the Gondwana, it was about 1/5th of the earth's surface.
- Gondwana merged with Euramerica, during the Carboniferous period, to form the larger supercontinent called Pangea.
- However, during the Mesozoic era, Pangea and Gondwana broke up.
- Two-thirds of today's continental area is made up of Gondwana which includes the Indian subcontinent, Australia, Antarctica, Arabia, Zealandia, Africa, and South America.