Laurasia

views updated May 14 2018

Laurasia The northern continental mass produced in the early Mesozoic by the initial rifting of Pangaea along the line of the northern Atlantic Ocean and the Tethys Sea. Laurasia included what was to become North America, Greenland, Europe, Asia, and Malesia east to Sulawesi, while the large, southern continental mass (called Gondwana) was later to divide into South America, Africa, India, Australasia, Malesia east of Sulawesi, and Antarctica. Fossil evidence indicates that the Laurasian floral assemblage included many species of tropical plants that were incorporated into sediments to form the extensive coal measures that are mined throughout Europe and the eastern USA.

Laurasia

views updated Jun 27 2018

Laurasia The northern continental mass produced in the early Mesozoic by the initial rifting of Pangaea along the line of the northern Atlantic Ocean and the Tethys sea. Laurasia included what was to become N. America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia, while the large, southern continental mass (called Gondwana) was later to divide into S. America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica. Fossil evidence indicates that the Laurasian floral assemblage included many species of tropical plants that were incorporated into sediments to form the extensive coal measures that are mined throughout Europe and the eastern USA.

Laurasia

views updated May 08 2018

Laurasia The northern continental mass produced in the early Mesozoic by the initial rifting of Pangaea along the line of the N. Atlantic Ocean and Tethys. Laurasia included what was to become N. America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia, while the large, southern, continental mass (called Gondwanaland) was later to divide into S. America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica.

Laurasia

views updated May 18 2018

Laurasia a vast continental area believed to have existed in the northern hemisphere and to have resulted from the break-up of Pangaea in Mesozoic times. It comprised the present North America, Greenland, Europe, and most of Asia north of the Himalayas.

Laurasia

views updated May 14 2018

Laurasia The continent, formed when Pangaea divided into two parts, that comprised what subsequently divided further to become N. America and Eurasia. See HOLARCTICA.

Laurasia

views updated May 14 2018

Laurasia See continental drift.

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Laurasia

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