What is Gondwana?

Gondwana, was a southern supercontinent that existed from 510 to 180 million years ago. Africa, Antarctica, Australia, India, Madagascar, South America and The Arabian Peninsula were all together in one landmass called Gondwana (also known as Gondwanaland) before it began to break up approximately 180 million years ago.

In the beginning there was an exploding star and a cloud of gas from which the planet Earth was born (about 5000 million years ago). At some point in Earth’s history the supercontinent Pangea was formed. During the Jurassic period Pangea began to break up to become two large land masses or supercontinents. In the north was Laurasia and in the south was Gondwana.

The continent of Gondwana was named by Austrian scientist, Eduard Suess, after the Gondwana region of central northern India.  It is believed the word comes from the Sanskrit  ‘gondavana’ meaning ‘forest of the Gonds’. The Gonds are a tribe of people of central India.

Trapped in Gondwana is an adventure story for children in the 8-12 age group.