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Regional Events

Madagascar and India Break from Africa~160 Mya

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North AmericaEuropeAsiaIndian plateOceaniaAntarcticaAfricaSouth AmericaMadagascarZealandiaOpen ocean

Schematic. Shows which landmasses were connected, not where they were. The red mark is the ocean floor, which is none of them.

Gondwana / Laurasia Breakup

The Central Atlantic opens, splitting Laurasia in the north from Gondwana in the south.

Time period

160 million years ago
Late Jurassic~161.5143.1 Mya, Mesozoic
Today500 Mya

Global Events

Most recent

Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event ~183 Mya

A period of widespread oxygen depletion in the oceans, causing significant marine extinctions (especially among ammonites). Linked to eruptions of the Karoo-Ferrar large igneous province, centred on what's now southern Africa and Antarctica.

Centred on, or linked to, Africa.