when did gondwana split into africa and south america
Gondwana The opening of the South Atlantic Ocean divided West Gondwana (South America and Africa), but there considerable debate over the exact timing of this break-up. Rifting propagated from south to north along Triassic–Early Jurassic lineaments, but intra-continental rifts also began to develop within both continents in Jurassic–Cretaceous sedimentary basins; subdividing each continent into three sub-plates. Rifting began c. 190 Ma at Falkland latitudes, forcing Patagonia to move relative to the still static remainder of South America and Africa, and this westward movement lasted until the Early Cretaceous 126.7 Ma. From there rifting propagated northward during the Late Jurassic c. 150 Ma or Early Cretaceous c. 140 Ma most likely forcing dextral movements between sub-plates on either side. South of the Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise the Paraná and Etendeka magmatics resulted in further ocean-floor spreading c. 130 to 135 Ma and the development of rifts systems on both continents, including the Central African Rift System and the Central African Shear Zone which lasted until c. 85 Ma. At Brazilian latitudes spreading is more difficult to assess because of the lack of palaeo-magnetic data, but rifting occurred in Nigeria at the Benue Trough c. 118 Ma. North of the Equator the rifting began after 120.4 Ma and continued until c. 100 to 96 Ma.[33]
Opening of the North Atlantic Ocean Rocks from the North Atlantic Igneous Province have been found in Greenland, the Irminger Basin, Faroe Islands, Vøring Plateau (off Norway), Faroe-Shetland Basin, Hebrides, Outer Moray Firth and Denmark.[2] The supercontinent known as Pangea existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras and began to rift around 200 million years ago.[3][4] Pangea had three major phases of breakup. The first major phase began in the Early-Middle Jurassic, taking place between North America and Africa.[5] The second major phase of breakup began in the Early Cretaceous. The South Atlantic Ocean opened around 140 million years ago as Africa separated from South America, and about the same time, India separated from Antarctica and Australia, forming the central Indian Ocean.[citation needed] The final major phase of breakup occurred in the early Cenozoic, as Laurentia separated from Eurasia.[5] As the two plates broke free from each other, the Atlantic Ocean continued to expand.[5]