{
  "id": 8457863,
  "title": "China-led study reveals ‘Greater Gondwana’ was 80% of Earth’s crust 500m years ago",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/19/china-led-study-reveals-greater-gondwana-was-80-of-earths-crust-500m-8457863",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-19T12:00:11.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3368102/china-led-study-reveals-greater-gondwana-was-80-earths-crust-500m-years-ago"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "An international team of scientists, led by Chinese researchers, has discovered fragments of an ancient supercontinent called Gondwana hidden deep beneath parts of modern continents. The study, published in the journal Science Advances, reveals that Gondwana was much larger than previously thought, covering approximately 80% of Earth's continental crust 500 million years ago. This finding significantly alters our understanding of the supercontinent's scale, positioning it as a true supercontinent during Earth's geological history. The research, conducted in collaboration with institutions from China, Australia, and China, utilized a geochemical fingerprinting technique to trace ancient chemical signatures back to their origins in a vast database of 25,346 igneous rock samples. This helped to \"scan\" the deep crust and confirm the expansive nature of Gondwana. The findings suggest that geological activity related to Gondwana created favorable conditions for the Cambrian explosion, a rapid diversification of life that occurred around 540 million years ago. The study aligns the peak of Gondwana's assembly and breakup with the timing of these global upheavals, providing strong evidence for its role as the primary driver of the dramatic transformations.",
  "summary": "Fragments of a long-disappeared ancient giant land mass have been discovered buried deep beneath parts of the modern continents that once formed it, according to an international team led by Chinese scientists. Published this month in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, the discovery reveals that Gondwana – a land mass that dominated Earth some 500 million years ago – was much larger than…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Reuters Business via SCMP",
        "title": "China-led study reveals ‘Greater Gondwana’ was 80% of Earth’s crust 500m years ago",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/19/china-led-study-reveals-greater-gondwana-was-80-of-earths-crust-500m",
        "published": "2026-09-19T12:00:11.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}