Story highlights
Continent contains rocks that are 3.6 billion years old
Mineral zircon in beach sand provided clue to continent
CNN
—
Found – one lost continent, hiding underneath a tropical holiday destination.
It might sound implausible, but deep at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, a research team, led by South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand, has found pieces of an ancient continent.
The lava-covered piece of continent, dubbed ‘Mauritia,’ was found under the popular island of Mauritius.
According to the report published this week in the journal Nature Communications, the piece of crust is left over from the breakup of Gondwanaland, a super-continent that existed more than 200 million years ago.
View this interactive content on CNN.com
Containing rocks up to 3.6 billion years old, Gondawanaland split into what now are Africa, South America, Antarctica, India and Australia.
Professor Lewis Ashwal, lead author of the paper, says there are a number of pieces of “undiscovered continent” of various sizes spread over the Indian Ocean, left over by the breakup.
“This breakup did not involve a simple splitting of the ancient super-continent of Gondwana,” says Ashwal, but “a complex splintering took place with fragments of continental crust of variable sizes left adrift within the evolving Indian Ocean basin.”
The team made the discovery by analyzing a mineral – zircon – found in rocks spewed up by lava during volcanic eruptions.
View this interactive content on CNN.com
They said that remnants of the mineral were way too old to belong to Mauritius. “Mauritius is an island, and there is no rock older than 9 million years old on the island,” says Ashwal. But by studying rocks on the island, they found zircons that were 3 billion years old.
The researchers say these findings corroborate a study done in 2013 that found traces of ancient zircons in beach sand. But critics said the mineral could have been blown in by the wind, or carried in by the scientists.
TripAdvisor Traveler Photo
TripAdvisor Traveler Photo
The number of visitors is restricted on Fernando de Noronha, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. “The lucky few are rewarded with unrivaled beaches and waters filled with dolphins and sea turtles,” says TripAdvisor.
TripAdvisor Traveler Photo
White sand beaches and blue lagoons are two reasons Bora Bora held onto ninth place for a second straight year.
TripAdvisor Traveler Photo
Although the Thai island of Ko Tao didn’t make the list this year, another Thai favorite did: Phuket, with its fabulous diving and easy access to imposing rock formations.
TripAdvisor Traveler Photo
Spanish painter Joan Miró was captivated by the Mediterranean light of the island of Mallorca. So are many Europeans who flock to the No. 6 island’s beaches.
TripAdvisor Traveler Photo
Bali is best known for its beaches but it’s also got a unique system of rice terraces that are UNESCO protected.
TripAdvisor Traveler Photo
Locally known as “Provo,” Providenciales is the most developed island in Turks and Caicos. Most of its infrastructure is found along the 12-mile Grace Bay beach.
TripAdvisor Traveler Photo
Jamaica didn’t rank in last year’s top 10. Now it’s vaulted into third place.
TripAdvisor Traveler Photo
The Greek island of Santorini, the remains of an exploded volcano in the Aegean Sea, has black sand beaches and picturesque villages.
TripAdvisor Traveler Photo
With more than 80 beautiful beaches and only about 131,000 year-round residents, the 2016 “best island” title holder is Maui.
Ashwal says the fact the team found ancient zircons in rock “refutes any suggestion of wind-blown, wave-transported or pumice-rafted zircons.”
The researchers say their results demonstrate, in no uncertain terms, “the existence of ancient continental crust beneath Mauritius.”
RELATED: Mauritius – the best Africa destination you know almost nothing about
That continent might be lost forever, but it’s still leaving traces to remind us of its existence.
“The fact that we have found zircons of this age proves that there are much older crustal materials under Mauritius that could only have originated from a continent,” said Ashwal.
Source link : https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/travel/article/lost-continent-mauritius-trnd
Author :
Publish date : 2017-10-24 03:07:58
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
