Argoland: The Lost Micro Continent Once Joined to Australia

Discover a lost microcontinent that broke away from the vast supercontinent of Gondwana approximately 155 million years ago. This ancient landmass, known as Argoland, once lay off the northwest coast of Australia, a region rich in minerals, ancient rock formations and tectonic activity, before rifting away and beginning its epic northward journey. In this video, we uncover the geological clues that allowed scientists to reconstruct Argoland’s path across prehistoric oceans—from the unique detrital zircons that trace its origins to the magnetic anomalies recorded on the Argo Abyssal Plain, which served as a cradle for new oceanic crust formed as Argoland drifted from Gondwana.

Delving into Argoland’s journey, we explore how this fragmented landmass was reshaped by tectonic forces over tens of millions of years, eventually colliding with the Sunda and Indian Plates. Learn how Argoland’s fragments scattered across regions now known as Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, and the Longzi Block in the Himalayas, where they became woven into Southeast Asia’s complex tectonic fabric. These continental fragments did not subduct like denser oceanic plates but accreted onto Southeast Asia.