Scientists Spot Possible Remains Of "Rodinia," Ancient Lost Microcontinent
Supercontinent Rodinia This map of supercontinent Rodinia shows the ancient locations of the continents. "Mauritia" is sandwiched between what is now India and Madagascar. United States Antarctic Program/Wikipedia Fragments of an ancient microcontinent may have been hiding between the land masses now known as Madagascar and India. Tourists vacationing on the sunny isles of Reunion and Mauritius have no idea what secrets those sandy beaches hold. The islands could be hiding the remains of an ancient micro-continent, quietly torn apart between 50 and 100 million years ago, according to a new study. Scientists think they have spotted a fragment of a continent known as Mauritia. The small strip of continent was once tucked tightly between the lands now known as India and Madagascar, back when those areas were packed into a supercontinent known as Rodinia. (It's the older and less-famous relative of supercontinent Pangaea.) Evidence of this sandwiched continent came from sand...