Before Pangaea - North America And Antarctica Were Connected 1.1 Billion Years Ago
Monday, August 8, 2011 - 14:10
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Rocks collected from the Franklin Mountains in West Texas and Coats Land in Antarctica have the exact same composition of lead isotopes, according to new research, the strongest evidence yet that parts of North America and Antarctica were connected 1.1 billion years ago, long before the supercontinent Pangaea formed.Earlier analyses showed the rocks to be the exact same age and have the same chemical and geologic properties. The new work in Geology strengthens support for the so-called SWEAT hypothesis, which posits that ancestral North America and East Antarctica were joined in an earlier supercontinent called Rodinia.read more