Coin de Mire, Mauritius. Photo source: ©© Remi Bridot
Excerpts;
An ancient continent that was once sandwiched between India and Madagascar now lies scattered on the bottom of the Indian Ocean.
Although Mauritius is only 8 million years old, some sparkly, iridescent flecks of rocks known as zircons crystals, found on the island’s beaches, date back almost 2 billions of years, to one of the earliest periods in Earth’s history, the researchers found. Volcanic eruptions may have ejected the zircon from ancient rock below…
Read Full Article, New Scientist (01-31-2017)
3 billion-year-old “lost continent” lurking under African island; CBS News (01-31-2017)
It’s official: A 3-billion-year-old “lost continent” lurks beneath the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, new research confirms. Sparkly, iridescent flecks of rocks known as zircons from Mauritius date back billions of years, to one of the earliest periods in Earth’s history, the researchers found. Other rocks on the island, by contrast, are no more than 9 million years old…
Mauritius’ Beaches Contain Clues Pointing To Sunken Lost Continent; NBC News (02-26-2013)
The beaches of Mauritius surround the island like a foamy white trim and sprinkled in the sand are clues to a lost, submerged continent. Beneath the floor of the Indian Ocean, researchers have found evidence for a landmass that would have existed between 2,000 and 85 million years ago…
Original Study: A Precambrian microcontinent in the Indian Ocean, Nature Geoscience (02-24-2013)
