Gondwana was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Zealandia, Arabia, and the Indian Subcontinent.
Reconstruction showing final stages of assembly of Gondwana, 550 Mya
Banksia, a grevilleoid Proteaceae, is an example of a plant from a family with a Gondwanan distribution
The plant genus Nothofagus provides a good example of a taxon with a Gondwanan distribution, having originated in the supercontinent and existing in present-day Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and South America's Southern Cone. Fossils have also been found in Antarctica.
Image: Geology of Asia 450.Ma
In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth's continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass. However, some geologists use a different definition, "a grouping of formerly dispersed continents", which leaves room for interpretation and is easier to apply to Precambrian times. To separate supercontinents from other groupings, a limit has been proposed in which a continent must include at least about 75% of the continental crust then in existence in order to qualify as a supercontinent.
As the slab is subducted into the mantle, the more dense material will break off and sink to the lower mantle creating a discontinuity elsewhere known as a slab avalanche
The effects of mantle plumes possibly caused by slab avalanches elsewhere in the lower mantle on the breakup and assembly of supercontinents
U–Pb ages of 5,246 concordant detrital zircons from 40 of Earth's major rivers
