China-led study reveals ‘Greater Gondwana’ was 80% of Earth’s crust 500m years ago

Fragments of a long-disappeared ancient giant land mass have been discovered buried deep beneath parts of the modern continents that once formed it, according to an international team led by Chinese scientists.

Published this month in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, the discovery reveals that Gondwana – a land mass that dominated Earth some 500 million years ago – was much larger than previously believed.

Crucially, the findings show how geological activity related to Gondwana created favourable conditions for the Cambrian explosion.

The study was jointly conducted by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Australia’s Curtin University, and Zhejiang Lab, a non-profit research institution in eastern China.