Argoland, a continent missing for 155 million years, found off Australia

Argoland is a landmass that detached from western Australia 155 million years ago. (Representational Image: NASA/Unsplash)

Geologists from Utrecht University in the Netherlands have discovered Argoland, a landmass that detached from modern-day western Australia 155 million years ago. This elusive 3,106-mile stretch, once an integral part of the supercontinent Gondwana, broke into shards beneath the jungles of Indonesia and Myanmar.

Argoland, now dispersed as an archipelago separated by ocean basins, initially drifted northwest, contributing to the formation of several Southeast Asian islands.

The geologists, led by Eldert Advokaat and Douwe van Hinsbergen, undertook a seven-year investigation, comparing Argoland to another prehistoric continent, Greater Adria, rediscovered in 2019. Like Adria, Argoland splintered into multiple fragments.

The breakthrough came when Advokaat and his team identified crucial clues in the geological systems of the Himalayas and the Philippines. These fragments of Argoland, reaching their destinations simultaneously, formed an archipelago rather than a unified landmass.

It was approximately 215 million years ago that an event triggered an accelerated breakup, resulting in the continent shattering into thin pieces.