According to geologists, remote Antarctic rocks contain compelling new evidence that regions of Antarctica and North America were linked more than a billion years ago.
The presumed connection between the two geographically remote continents provides insight into the planet’s environment during the time when complex multicellular life was first forming.
An international team of researchers discovered that the lead isotope composition of rocks poking through Antarctic ice is identical to that of rocks from a rift that spans the United States.
Super continents
For many years, geologists have understood that the continents of Earth move in accordance with the tectonic plates that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle to form the crust of the planet. Mountain ranges, coastlines, and fossils on one continent can be compared to those on another to demonstrate their former connection.
Throughout Earth’s history, the continents have occasionally congregated into enormous land masses known as supercontinents.
Scientists believe that ancient North America and East Antarctica were linked in a supercontinent named Rodinia far earlier than the time when the supercontinent Pangaea formed (approximately 250 million years ago). The new discovery lends credence to that notion.
The researchers published a thorough account of their research in the journal Geology on August 5.
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