Continental fragment
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| - | '''Lost lands''' can be [[continents]], [[islands]] or other regions supposedly existing during [[prehistory]], having since disappeared as a result of [[catastrophism|catastrophic]] geological phenomena or slowly rising sea levels since the end of the last [[Ice Age]]. Lost lands, where they existed, are supposed to have subsided into the sea, leaving behind only a few traces or legends. The term can also be extended to mythological lands generally, to underground civilizations, or even to whole [[planets]]. | + | '''Continental crustal fragments''', partially synonymous with '''microcontinents''', are fragments of [[continent]]s that have been broken off from main continental masses forming distinct islands, often several hundred kilometers from their place of origin. All continents are fragments; the terms 'continental fragment' and 'microcontinent' are restricted to those smaller than [[Australia (continent)|Australia]]. Other than perhaps [[Zealandia (continent)|Zealandia]], they are not known to contain a [[craton]] or fragment of a craton. Continental fragments include some [[seamount]]s and underwater plateaus. |
| - | The classification of lost lands as continents, islands, or other regions is in some cases subjective; for example, [[Atlantis]] is variously described as either a "lost island" or a "lost continent". Lost land theories may originate in [[mythology]] or [[philosophy]], or in scholarly or scientific theories, such as [[Catastrophism|catastrophic]] theories of [[geology]]. | + | Some microcontinents are fragments of [[Gondwana]] or other ancient cratonic continents: Zealandia, which includes [[Geography of New Zealand|New Zealand]] and [[Geography of New Caledonia|New Caledonia]]; [[Geography of Madagascar|Madagascar]]; the northern [[Mascarene Plateau]], which includes the [[Seychelles]]; the island of [[Timor]], ''etc.'' Other islands, such as several in the [[Caribbean Sea]], are composed largely of granitic rock as well, but all continents contain both granitic and basaltic crust, and there is no clear boundary as to which islands would be considered microcontinents under such a definition. The [[Kerguelen Plateau]] is a [[large igneous province]] formed by a volcanic [[hot spot (geology)|hot spot]], but was associated with the breakup of Gondwana, was for a time above water, and is therefore considered to be a microcontinent, though not a continental fragment, whereas other hotspot islands such as [[Geography of Iceland|Iceland]] and [[Hawaiian Islands|Hawaii]] are considered neither microcontinents nor continental fragments. This is not a choice in the classification of all islands: The [[British Isles]], [[Sri Lanka]], [[Borneo]], and [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] for example are within the continental shelves of their adjacent continents, separated from the mainland by inland seas flooding its margins. |
| - | ==Lost continents== | + | Several islands in the eastern [[List of islands of Indonesia|Indonesian archipelago]] are considered continental fragments, although this is a controversial theory. These include [[Sumba]], [[Timor]] ([[Nusa Tenggara]]), [[Banggai Regency|Banggai]]-[[Sulu Archipelago|Sulu]] Islands ([[Sulawesi]]), [[Obi Islands|Obi]], southern [[Bacan]], and the [[Buru]]-[[Seram]]-[[Ambon Island|Ambon]] complex ([[Maluku islands|Maluku]]). |
| - | As the study "[[Lost Continents]]" by [[L. Sprague de Camp]] seeks to show, many modern writers speculate about ancient civilizations that dwelled on continents now [[Deluge (mythology)|deluged]] under sea level. According to de Camp, there is no real scientific evidence for any lost continents whatsoever. | + | |
| - | * The most famous lost continent is [[Atlantis]]. Atlantis, like [[Hyperborea]] and [[Thule]], is ultimately derived from [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] geographic speculation. | + | ;Continental fragments (pieces of Pangaea smaller than [[Australia (continent)|Sahul]]) |
| + | * [[East Tasman Plateau]] | ||
| + | * [[Gilbert Seamount]] | ||
| + | * [[Jan Mayen Microcontinent]] | ||
| + | * [[Madagascar]] | ||
| + | * [[Mascarene Plateau]] | ||
| + | * [[Mauritia (microcontinent)| Mauritia]] | ||
| + | * Parts of [[Wallaby Plateau]] | ||
| + | * Possibly [[Sumba]], [[Timor]], and other islands of eastern Indonesia; [[Sulawesi]] was formed via the subduction of a microcontinent | ||
| + | * [[Rockall Plateau]] | ||
| + | * [[South Orkney Microcontinent]] | ||
| + | * [[Zealandia (continent)|Zealandia]] | ||
| - | * The name of hypothetical vanished continent [[Mu (lost continent)|Mu]] originated from the first attempted translation of the ''[[Madrid Codex (Maya)|Madrid Codex]]'', one of only four remaining [[Maya codices]]. | + | ;Other microcontinents |
| + | * [[Barbados]] | ||
| + | * [[Cuba]], [[Hispaniola]], [[Jamaica]], and other granitic [[Caribbean|Caribbean islands]] | ||
| + | * [[Kerguelen Plateau]] | ||
| - | * Something similar seems to have happened upon the discovery of the [[Sanskrit]] literature by Europeans. [[Louis Jacolliot]] claimed to have learned from this literature about a sunken continent called [[Rutas]]. This in turn seems to have influenced [[Madame Blavatsky]] and her speculations about [[Lemuria (continent)|Lemuria]]. Speculations about [[Kumari Kandam]] also seem to be linked to this field. The name ''Lemuria'' originated from the hypothesis about a [[land bridge]] between India and South Africa. | ||
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| - | ==Other lost lands== | ||
| - | In addition to these myths about lost continents there also are various regional legends about lost lands; see e.g. [[Lyonesse]], [[Cantref Gwaelod]] (also known as Lowland Hundred), or the legend about Lomea, located at the [[Goodwin Sands]]. Unlike the lost continents mentioned above, whose location has been a matter of speculation, these lost lands are associated with specified places. | ||
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| - | It is likely that until relatively recent times the [[Isles of Scilly]], with which Lyonesse is often associated, were much larger, many of them being joined into a single island named Ennor. Rising sea levels flooded the central plain around 400–500 AD, forming the current islands. | ||
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| - | ==Submerged lands== | ||
| - | {{Main|Submerged continent|Continental fragment}} | ||
| - | Although the existence of lost continents in the above sense is mythical, there are some places on earth that were once dry land but are now submerged under the sea. Approximately listed by size, these are: | ||
| - | * [[Sundaland]], the now submerged [[Sunda Shelf]]. | ||
| - | * [[Zealandia (continent)|Zealandia]], a continent that is now 93% submerged under the [[Pacific Ocean]]. | ||
| - | * [[Kerguelen Plateau]], a submerged micro-continent which is now 1–2 km below sea level. | ||
| - | * [[Beringia]], connecting Asia and North America. | ||
| - | * [[Doggerland]], the bed of the [[North Sea]], inundated by rising sea level during the [[Holocene]]. | ||
| - | * The bed of the [[Persian Gulf]]. | ||
| - | * A large island in the [[Mediterranean Sea]], of which the [[Maltese Islands]] are the only parts not now submerged. | ||
| - | * [[Maui Nui]], once a large island of the [[Hawaii]] archipelago; several major islands represent residual high ground of Maui Nui. | ||
| - | * [[Verdronken Land van Reimerswaal]], most of this region in The Netherlands vanished in a storm in 1532; the town of Reimerswaal survived as an island into the 17th century; the last bits of land vanished in the early 19th century. | ||
| - | * [[Strand (island)|Strand]], an island off the German coast with the town [[Rungholt]], eroded away by storm surges before being washed away by a final flood in 1634. | ||
| - | * [[Jordsand]], once an island off the Danish coast, eroded away by storm surges before being washed away by a final flood between 1998 and 1999. | ||
| - | * [[Ferdinandea]], submerged volcanic island which has appeared at least four times in the past. | ||
| - | * [[Sarah Ann Island]], now submerged guano island, located just north of the equator. Vanished between 1917 and 1932. | ||
| - | * [[Ravenser Odd]], a large 13th century town on the old sandbank promontory in East Yorkshire, which became an island and then vanished in January 1392. | ||
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| - | ==Mythological lands== | ||
| - | {{Main|List of mythological places|Mythical continents}} | ||
| - | [[File:Athanasius Kircher's Atlantis.gif|thumb|right|150px|[[Plato]]'s [[Atlantis]] described in [[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]] and [[Critias]]]] | ||
| - | *[[Avalon]] | ||
| - | *[[Buyan]], an island with the ability to appear and disappear in Slavic mythology. | ||
| - | *[[Shambhala]] | ||
| - | *[[Shangri-La]], a fictitious valley in Tibet the idea of which may have been inspired by the myth of [[Shambhala]] | ||
| - | *[[Quivira]] and [[Seven Cities of Gold (myth)|Cibola]], also known as the '''Seven Cities of Gold'''. These were suspected somewhere in [[Americas|America]] by the [[Conquistador]]s. | ||
| - | *[[El Dorado]], mythic city of gold. | ||
| - | *[[Atlantis]] | ||
| - | *[[Lemuria (continent)]] | ||
| - | *[[Mu (lost continent)]] | ||
| - | *[[Ys]]; a mythical city built on the coast of Brittany, and later swallowed by the ocean. Most versions of the legend place the city in the [[Baie de Douarnenez]]. | ||
| - | *[[Cantre'r Gwaelod]] is the legendary ancient sunken realm said to have occupied a tract of fertile land lying between [[Ramsey Island]] and [[Bardsey Island]] in what is now [[Cardigan Bay]] to the west of [[Wales]]. | ||
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| - | ===Phantom islands=== | ||
| - | {{main|Phantom island}} | ||
| - | [[Phantom island]]s, as opposed to lost lands, are land masses formerly believed by [[Cartography|cartographer]]s to exist in the historical age, but to have been discredited as a result of expanding geographic knowledge. [[Terra Australis]] is a phantom continent. While a few phantom islands originated from literary works (an example is [[Ogygia]] from [[Homer]]'s [[Odyssey]]), most phantom islands are the result of navigational errors. | ||
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| - | ==Hollow Earth theory== | ||
| - | {{main|Hollow Earth}} | ||
| - | Also related to the theme of Lost lands is that of Hollow Earth, as some proponents of Hollow Earth theory have claimed that the inner earth would be inhabited. Furthermore, using the concept of vast underground caves or even a completely Hollow Earth, some authors try to explain how an ancient civilization could continue to exist, even if its former continent became deluged. | ||
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| - | The most prominent lost land mentioned in Hollow Earth theory would be [[Agartha]]. | ||
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| - | ===Accounts of a Hollow Earth=== | ||
| - | Some of these authors, such as H.P. Blavatsky and theosophist followers, believed in the existence of a number of lost lands within the [[Hollow Earth]] and held many "fictional" accounts of these places and their peoples to be true. Such accounts include: | ||
| - | *''[[The Coming Race]]'' by [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton]], published in 1871. | ||
| - | *''Mission de l'Inde en Europeä'' by [[Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre]], published in 1886. | ||
| - | *''[[The Phantom of the Poles]]'' by [[William Reed (hollow earth)|William Reed]], published in 1906. | ||
| - | *''[[The Smoky God]]'' by [[Willis George Emerson]], published in 1908. | ||
| - | *''Agartha – Secrets of the Subterranean Cities'' | ||
| - | *''Journey to the Earth's Interior'' by [[Marshall B. Gardner]], published in 1913. | ||
| - | *''Le Roi du Monde'' by [[René Guénon]], published in 1924. | ||
| - | *''Beast, Men and Gods'' by [[Ferdinand Ossendowski]] Published in 1931. | ||
| - | *''Amazing Stories'' magazine, which, beginning in 1943, published a plethora of material by [[Richard Shaver]] and [[Raymond A. Palmer]], detailing Shaver's experiences with the inhabitants of the Hollow Earth. | ||
| - | *''The Hollow Earth'', by [[Raymond W. Bernard]]. | ||
| - | *''Flying Saucers from the Earth's Interior'', by [[Raymond W. Bernard]]. | ||
| - | *''Agharta – The Subterranean World'' by Dr. Raymond Bernard. | ||
| - | *''Nazisme et sociétés Secrètes'' by [[Jean-Claude Frère]], published in 1974. | ||
| - | *''World Beyond the Poles'' by Giannini. | ||
| - | *''Paradise Found'' by [[William F. Warren]]. | ||
| - | *A recurring element in ''[[Sanctuary (TV series)]]'' | ||
| - | |||
| - | Diverse expeditions at diverse epochs and lands, have tried to find proof of the existence of a subterranean world, from the Col. Fawcett notorious expeditions to Third Reich sponsored attempts and many private expeditions in modern times, some sponsored by cultural foundations and even magazines as the 1978 Roncador Expedition to the Roncador mountains in Matto Grosso, Brazil, sponsored by the magazine Noticias from Uruguay and led by pilot and writer A. de Souza. None have returned positive results. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ==Lost planets== | ||
| - | Similar to the theme of lost continents is the theme of lost planets, planets thought to have existed during prehistory only to be later destroyed by a global [[wikt:cataclysm|cataclysm]]. [[Fifth planet (hypothetical)#The Disruption Theory|The disruption theory]] of the formation of the asteroid belt from a hypothetical [[fifth planet (hypothetical)|fifth planet]] has given birth to a number of these, including the doomed [[Phaeton (hypothetical planet)|Phaeton]], [[Tiamat (hypothetical planet)|Tiamat]], and the apocalypse bringer [[Nibiru (hypothetical planet)|Nibiru]]. Others such as [[Planet V]], [[giant impact hypothesis|Theia]], [[Planet X]], [[Tyche (hypothetical planet)|Tyche]] and [[Vulcan (hypothetical planet)|Vulcan]] arose to explain irregularities in planetary phenomena. | ||
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| - | ==In literature and philosophy== | ||
| - | {{main|Lost World (genre)}} | ||
| - | The following individuals are known for having written on the subject of lost lands: | ||
| - | *[[H.P. Blavatsky]] | ||
| - | *[[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] | ||
| - | *[[William L. Chester]], (Nato'wa, Kioga book series) | ||
| - | *[[James Churchward]] | ||
| - | *[[Ignatius L. Donnelly]] | ||
| - | *[[Arthur Conan Doyle]], ([[The Lost World (Conan Doyle novel)|The Lost World]]) | ||
| - | *[[Burak Eldem]] | ||
| - | *[[Warren Ellis]] | ||
| - | *[[Philip José Farmer]] | ||
| - | *[[James Gurney]]([[Dinotopia]]) | ||
| - | *[[Henry Rider Haggard|H Rider Haggard]] | ||
| - | *[[Robert A. Heinlein]] in his [[Novella|novelette]] [[Lost Legacy]] | ||
| - | *[[James Hilton (novelist)|James Hilton]], ([[Lost Horizon]]) | ||
| - | *[[H. P. Lovecraft]] often invoked the names of lost lands of his own invention, a practice that subsequently gave birth to the [[Cthulhu mythos]]. | ||
| - | *[[Plato]] | ||
| - | *[[Augustus Le Plongeon]] | ||
| - | *[[Zecharia Sitchin]] | ||
| - | *[[Samael Aun Weor]] | ||
| - | *[[Jack Vance]] describing the Elder Isles in his [[Lyonesse Trilogy]] | ||
| - | * [[Jules Verne]] used the idea of a partially hollow Earth in his [[1864 in literature|1864]] novel, ''[[Journey to the Center of the Earth|A Journey to the Center of the Earth]]''. | ||
| - | *Lost lands figured prominently in the philosophy of the Nazi [[Thule society]] in regards to researchers of the occult and [[Nazi mysticism]] such as [[Karl Maria Wiligut]], [[Heinrich Himmler]] and [[Otto Rahn]]. | ||
| - | *A lost land (possibly the [[Garden of Eden]]) found at the center of the Earth is the site of the climatic battle between [[Godzilla]] and [[Biollante]] in the novel ''[[Godzilla at World's End]]'' by [[Marc Cerasini]]. | ||
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| - | ==See also== | ||
| - | *[[Fantasy map]] | ||
| - | *[[Lost city]] | ||
| - | *[[Lost World (disambiguation)|''Lost World'' (disambiguation)]] | ||
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Continental crustal fragments, partially synonymous with microcontinents, are fragments of continents that have been broken off from main continental masses forming distinct islands, often several hundred kilometers from their place of origin. All continents are fragments; the terms 'continental fragment' and 'microcontinent' are restricted to those smaller than Australia. Other than perhaps Zealandia, they are not known to contain a craton or fragment of a craton. Continental fragments include some seamounts and underwater plateaus.
Some microcontinents are fragments of Gondwana or other ancient cratonic continents: Zealandia, which includes New Zealand and New Caledonia; Madagascar; the northern Mascarene Plateau, which includes the Seychelles; the island of Timor, etc. Other islands, such as several in the Caribbean Sea, are composed largely of granitic rock as well, but all continents contain both granitic and basaltic crust, and there is no clear boundary as to which islands would be considered microcontinents under such a definition. The Kerguelen Plateau is a large igneous province formed by a volcanic hot spot, but was associated with the breakup of Gondwana, was for a time above water, and is therefore considered to be a microcontinent, though not a continental fragment, whereas other hotspot islands such as Iceland and Hawaii are considered neither microcontinents nor continental fragments. This is not a choice in the classification of all islands: The British Isles, Sri Lanka, Borneo, and Newfoundland for example are within the continental shelves of their adjacent continents, separated from the mainland by inland seas flooding its margins.
Several islands in the eastern Indonesian archipelago are considered continental fragments, although this is a controversial theory. These include Sumba, Timor (Nusa Tenggara), Banggai-Sulu Islands (Sulawesi), Obi, southern Bacan, and the Buru-Seram-Ambon complex (Maluku).
- Continental fragments (pieces of Pangaea smaller than Sahul)
- East Tasman Plateau
- Gilbert Seamount
- Jan Mayen Microcontinent
- Madagascar
- Mascarene Plateau
- Mauritia
- Parts of Wallaby Plateau
- Possibly Sumba, Timor, and other islands of eastern Indonesia; Sulawesi was formed via the subduction of a microcontinent
- Rockall Plateau
- South Orkney Microcontinent
- Zealandia
- Other microcontinents
- Barbados
- Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and other granitic Caribbean islands
- Kerguelen Plateau
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Continental fragment" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
