Find the 'lost' ancient continent ... located below Europe

The mysterious continent called "Greater Adria" is thought to have existed hundreds of millions of years ago after it split from the supercontinent Gondwana.

The lost continent "Greater Adria" was thought to have occurred some 240 million years ago, after it split from Gondwana, a southern supercontinent made up of Africa, Antarctica, South America, Australia and large lands. other.

The map depicts the ancient continent of Greater Adria.The darker green areas describe areas above water and the lighter green, the areas below.

Greater Greater Adria, extending from today's Alps to Iran, but not all above the water. That means it's likely a series of islands or archipelagos, said lead author Douwe van Hinsbergen from the Department of Earth Sciences at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

Hinsbergen and his team spent a decade collecting and analyzing rocks that used to be part of this ancient continent. The mountain belts where these Greater Adria rocks are found spread around 30 different countries.

Hinsbergen said : "Each country has its own geological survey and its own map and story and the continent itself. With this study, we have combined them all in one big picture."

The Earth is covered in large tectonic plates moving relative to each other. Greater Adria belongs to the African tectonic plate (but not part of the African continent, because there is an ocean between them), gradually slipping down under the Eurasian tectonic plate, which is now the southern part. Europe.

1. The mystery of the ancient supercontinent of the Earth
2. The secret of the separation process of ancient supercontinent