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Emergent, long-lived Gondwanaland vs. submergent, short-lived Laurasia: Supercontinental and Pan-African heat imparts long-term buoyancy by mafic underplating

¹ Australian Plate Research Group, School of Earth Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales 2109, Australia

Gondwanaland was buoyant, as indicated by nonmarine facies, and Laurasia was depressed, as indicated by marine facies. As a supercontinent, Gondwanaland lasted much longer than Laurasia and was hotter from internal heat. Moreover, the Pan-African orogenic cycle, confined to Gondwanaland, augmented the heat supply, which possibly generated a permanently buoyant lower crust by underplating. A crustal layer in the Australian Proterozoic shield with subhorizontal reflectors and velocity (V_p) >7.5 km/s is interpreted as mafic underplating beneath latest Neoproterozoic flood basalt. The Pan-African terrane in East Africa also contains evidence of mafic underplating, and most of Gondwanaland (but not Laurasia) was affected by terminal Pan-African (0.5 Ga) uplift and cooling.

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