Gondwana: Supercontinent, Breakup, and Legacy in Victoria and Australia
Gondwana was a vast southern supercontinent that existed from the late Precambrian through much of the Phanerozoic, linking present-day South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, India, and Arabia. For hundreds of millions of years, Gondwana shaped Earth’s climate, biodiversity, and geology. This article examines Gondwana’s formation and breakup, its impact on Victoria and Australia, the fossil and geological evidence preserved across the continent, and how Aboriginal communities connect to deep-time landscapes shaped by Gondwana. It also highlights examples from other Gondwanan continents and the legacy of Gondwana in modern ecosystems.
Origins and geology of Gondwana
Gondwana formed around 550 million years ago during the late Precambrian and early Paleozoic eras, as earlier supercontinents Rodinia and Pannotia fragmented. Tectonic collisions assembled the landmasses of the Southern Hemisphere into one continuous continent (Storey 1995).
By the Paleozoic (541–252 million years ago), Gondwana stretched from the equator to the South Pole. It included vast mountain chains, glacial regions, and coal-forming swamps. Gondwana remained intact through the Carboniferous and Permian, when Australia was fused to Antarctica and India along the southern margins (Veevers 2001).
Gondwana and Victoria’s deep past
Victoria’s geology records Gondwanan history in remarkable ways:
Glaciation evidence: Striated rocks and tillites from the late Paleozoic Ice Age (c. 300 million years ago) are preserved in Victoria, showing that the state once lay near the South Pole (Veevers 2001).
Fossils: Plant fossils such as Glossopteris (a seed fern) are found in Permian rocks. Glossopteris grew across Gondwana, providing key evidence for continental drift when similar fossils were discovered in India, South America, and Antarctica (McLoughlin 2001).
Dinosaur-era habitats: During the Mesozoic, Victoria was part of southern Gondwana. Fossil finds at Cape Otway and Inverloch reveal polar dinosaurs adapted to long winters, living when Australia was still joined to Antarctica (Rich & Vickers-Rich 2000).
The breakup of Gondwana
The fragmentation of Gondwana began around 180 million years ago in the Jurassic period.
South America and Africa separated first.
India broke away around 130 million years ago and drifted north to collide with Asia.
Australia remained fused to Antarctica until about 45 million years ago, when seafloor spreading opened the Southern Ocean (Lawver & Gahagan 1998).
This separation set Australia adrift on its isolated plate, moving steadily northward to its present latitude.
Climate and biodiversity legacies
The breakup of Gondwana shaped Victoria and Australia’s unique flora and fauna:
Flora: Gondwanan rainforests, dominated by Antarctic beech (Nothofagus) and conifers, left descendants in Tasmania and Victoria’s cool temperate forests.
Fauna: Ancient Gondwanan lineages survive in monotremes (platypus, echidna), marsupials, and reptiles such as skinks and crocodiles (Flannery 1994).
Fossil heritage: The distribution of Glossopteris, Mesosaurus (a freshwater reptile), and Lystrosaurus (a mammal-like reptile) across different continents was crucial evidence for Alfred Wegener’s theory of continental drift (Wegener 1915).
Aboriginal perspectives and deep time
Aboriginal communities did not witness Gondwana itself, but their cultural narratives reflect profound connections to ancient landforms and fossils left behind.
Rainbow Serpent stories across southeastern Australia describe ancestral serpents shaping valleys and rivers, sometimes inspired by fossilised remains of giant reptiles and megafauna embedded in Gondwanan rock beds.
Wadawurrung and other Victorian groups link volcanic plains, mountain ranges, and rivers—features shaped by Gondwanan geology—to ancestral beings and law (Clark 1990).
Across Australia, stories of giant birds and ancestral beings may reflect encounters with fossilised remains of Genyornis or megafauna whose ancestry reaches back into Gondwanan ecosystems.
These stories situate Aboriginal communities as custodians of landscapes shaped by hundreds of millions of years of Earth history.
Gondwana in the wider world
Evidence of Gondwana is found across other continents:
South America: Fossil plants and reptiles mirror those in Australia and Antarctica.
Africa: Glossopteris fossils and Karoo glacial deposits link to Gondwana’s Ice Age.
India: Permian and Triassic fossils demonstrate its Gondwanan origin before drifting north.
Antarctica: Fossils of Glossopteris and marsupial relatives confirm its warmer Gondwanan past before freezing under ice.
The shared geological and biological heritage of Gondwana unites the southern continents in a common evolutionary story.
Scientific and cultural significance
Gondwana is a cornerstone of both Earth sciences and Australian identity. Its fossil record provided critical evidence for continental drift and plate tectonics. For Victoria, Gondwana explains polar dinosaur fossils, volcanic plains, and the deep-time origins of its flora and fauna. For Aboriginal communities, the ancient landscapes shaped by Gondwana are part of Country, embedded in story and ceremony.
Conclusion
Gondwana, the great southern supercontinent, shaped Victoria’s geology, climate, and ecosystems for hundreds of millions of years. Its breakup created modern Australia, driving the isolation that produced unique flora and fauna. Fossils such as Glossopteris and polar dinosaurs provide tangible evidence of Gondwanan heritage. Aboriginal cultural traditions, meanwhile, embed these ancient landscapes into living Country. The legacy of Gondwana continues in Victoria’s forests, fossils, and Aboriginal stories, reminding us that human history is but the latest chapter in a much deeper Earth story.
References
Clark, I. (1990) Aboriginal Languages and Clans: An Historical Atlas of Western and Central Victoria, 1800–1900. Melbourne: Monash Publications in Geography.
Flannery, T. (1994) The Future Eaters: An Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and People. Sydney: New Holland.
Lawver, L. A. and Gahagan, L. M. (1998) ‘Opening of Drake Passage and its impact on Cenozoic ocean circulation’, Marine Geology, 145(3–4), pp. 259–282.
McLoughlin, S. (2001) ‘The breakup history of Gondwana and its impact on pre-Cenozoic floristic provincialism’, Australian Journal of Botany, 49(3), pp. 271–300.
Rich, T. and Vickers-Rich, P. (2000) Dinosaurs of Australia and New Zealand. Sydney: UNSW Press.
Storey, B. C. (1995) ‘The role of mantle plumes in continental breakup: Case histories from Gondwanaland’, Nature, 377(6547), pp. 301–308.
Veevers, J. J. (2001) ‘Gondwanaland from 650–500 Ma assembly through 320 Ma merger in Pangea to 185–100 Ma breakup: Supercontinental tectonics via stratigraphy and radiometric dating’, Earth-Science Reviews, 53(1–2), pp. 1–248.
Wegener, A. (1915) Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane. Leipzig: Vieweg
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter 16/09/2025
Magic Lands Alliance
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Magic Lands Alliance acknowledge the Traditional Owners, Custodians, and First Nations communities across Australia and internationally. We honour their enduring connection to the sky, land, waters, language, and culture. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and emerging, and to all First Peoples communities and language groups. This article draws only on publicly available information; many cultural practices remain the intellectual property of communities.