What do laurasia and gondwanaland mean

The causes of continental drift are perfectly explained by the plate tectonic theory. The earth's outer shell is composed of plates that move a little bit every year. Heat coming from the interior of the earth triggers this movement to occur through convection currents inside the mantle.

What was the weather like on Gondwana? Gondwana extended from a point at or near the south pole to near the equator.

Across much of Gondwana, the climate was mild. Gondwana was then host to a huge variety of flora and fauna for many millions of years. What was the ocean called during Pangea? What are two halves of Pangaea called? According the theory of continental drift, Pangaea split into two halves—Laurasia and Gondwanaland—roughly million years ago.

Why is it called Pangaea? Alfred Wegener was the first person to propose that all the continents were once connected together in a supercontinent, known as Pangaea. How to pronounce laurasia? Alex US English. David US English.

Mark US English. Daniel British. Libby British. Mia British. Karen Australian. Hayley Australian. Natasha Australian.

Veena Indian. Priya Indian. Neerja Indian. Zira US English. Oliver British. Wendy British. Fred US English. Tessa South African. Some theorists believe that "hot spots," where magma is very close to the surface, bubbled up and rifted the supercontinent apart.

In , however, University of London researchers suggested that Gondwana instead split into two tectonic plates , which then broke apart. The existence of Gondwana was first hypothesized in the mids by Eduard Suess, a Viennese geologist who dubbed the theoretical continent "Gondwanaland. At the time, plate tectonics weren't understood, so Suess didn't realize that all of these continents had once been in different locations. Instead, he developed a theory of sea level rise and regression over time that would have linked together the southern hemisphere continents with land bridges.

Suess got the name Gondwanaland from the Gondwana region of central India, where geological formations match those of similar ages in the southern hemisphere. Original article on LiveScience. Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science covering topics from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. A freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, she also regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association.

Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Live Science. Stephanie Pappas.