In the Year 2013, scientists discovered a stronger than normal gravitational pull some 550 miles east of Madagascar and had suggested that Mauritius could be sitting atop the fragments of an ancient, sunken continent. A view which was strengthened by the presence of minerals that were as old as three billion years old in these parts of the Indian Ocean.

And now, by analyzing these 3 billion-year-old zircon crystals found on the island, researchers have been able to reconstruct the geological history of the long-lost continent, which they believe disappeared into the ocean after Madagascar and India split apart from each other some 85 million years ago.

A long lost ancient continent called Gondwana

The Coloured Earths, a geological formation near Chamarel, Mauritius. [Photo Source]

According to the established theory, when the Earth was new, there was one continent called Pangaea. About 175 million years ago this super-continent started to break apart and spread to form intermediate continents, and this process continued over another millions of years, before the continents we know today, were formed.

Academia has been interested in finding out more about these early continental movements, and they've been gathering evidence that old continental crust may be lying beneath some oceanic volcanoes.

Lewis Ashwal from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, who was part of the research explained the findings by saying

Earth is made up of two parts - continents, which are old, and oceans, which are 'young'. On the continents you find rocks that are over four billion years old, but you find nothing like that in the oceans, as this is where new rocks are formed.
Mauritius is an island, and there is no rock older than nine million years old on the island. However, by studying the rocks on the island, we have found zircons that are as old as three billion years.
The fact that we have found zircons of this age proves that there are much older crustal materials under Mauritius that could only have originated from a continent.

Also Check this video: Scientists Find Remnants Of ‘Lost Continent’ Lurking Around Mauritius

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Scientists Find Traces Of A Long Lost Continent Submerged Deep Under Mauritius

Also Check this video: Scientists Find Remnants Of ‘Lost Continent’ Lurking Around Mauritius