Lost Continents

The planet Earth is 4.57 billion (4.57×109) years old. The earliest record of history is the Sumerian language of ancient Sumer, spoken in Southern Mesopotamia from at least the 4th millennium BCE. Surprisingly little is known about the prehistoric earth - humanity only made its appearance approximately 150,000 years ago. So, what went on with Earth that we're unsure of? Were there indeed other civilisations, or lost continents?

The time from the earth's creation to the evolution of abundant macroscopic hard-shelled fossils, which marked the beginning of the Cambrian, some 542 million years is referred to as Precambrian, or sometimes Cryptozoic. This period of time included the Hadean, Archean, and Proterozoic Eons, of which included, respectfully, the oldest known rocks and minerals, the first oxygen producing bacteria and stromatolites, complex single-celled life and later multi-cellular life. Here we start with the birth of this first continents.

Rodinia

Approximately one billion years ago, in the Neoproterozoic period, Rodinia was formed. Rodinia was the oldest-known supercontinent - the movements of continents prior to the formation of Rodinia are uncertain. About 750 million years ago, Rodinia broke into eight continents which re-assembled into another supercontinent called Pannotia. Pannotia existed from 600 to 540 million years ago.

Pangea

After Pannotia broke into the four continents of Laurentia, Baltica, Siberia and Gondwana, they inevitably came together again to form Pangaea, about 300 million years ago. They collided with such force that mountains were formed, some of which still exist, albeit much lower now than at the time of their initial creation. Some of these mountains still in existence are the Appalachians, the Atlas Mountains, and the Urals. Pangea existed from 300 million years ago to its breaking apart 180 million years ago. When Pangea broke apart, it created the southern supercontinent Gondwana (originally Gondwanaland) and the northern continent Laurasia.

Gondwana

Gondwana was formed about 200 million years ago, and although it was centered roughly where Antarctica is today, the climate was generally mild. During the Mesozoic, average global temperatures were considerably warmer than they are today. Gondwana was then host to a huge variety of flora and fauna for many millions of years. Fans of Lovecraft would be appreciative to note that Gondwana perfectly describes Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee's experience among the cone-shaped beings of the Great Race of Yith. Gondwana began to break up about 160 million years ago when Africa became separated and began to drift slowly northwards. The next large block to break away was India, about 125 million years ago, then New Zealand, about 80 million years ago.

Note: 65 million years ago, the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event wiped out about 50.f all species on the planet, most notably the dinosaurs. This is a topic in itself, for a later date.

55 million years ago, Australia-New Guinea gradually separated and moved north, 45 million years ago the Indian subcontinent collided with Asia, forcing the crust to buckle and forming the Himalayas. Also, the southern part of Australia broke off from what is now Antarctica, allowing ocean currents to flow between the two continents for the first time. This produced cooler and dryer climates on the two landmasses.

30 million years ago South America separated from Antarctica. With the opening of Drake Passage, there was no barrier to force the cold waters of the Southern Ocean north to be exchanged with warmer tropical water. Instead, a cold circumpolar current developed and Antarctica became what it is today: a frozen continent. Sea temperatures dropped by almost 10 degrees, and the global climate became much colder.

Lemuria

Lemuria is a hypothetical lost continent once located in the Indian Ocean. In 1864, geologist Philip Sclater proposed that Madagascar and India had once been part of a larger continent - Lemuria. In 1875, Madame Blavatsky claimed to have been shown an ancient, pre-Atlantean Book of Dzyan by the Mahatmas. Reputedly this ancient text, of Tibetan origin, and possibly connected with an esoteric branch of Lamaism, was the basis for Theosophy. Within Blavatsky's complex cosmology, Lemuria was occupied by a "Third Root Race," which was sexually hermaphroditical, mentally undeveloped and spiritually more pure than the current "Fifth Root Race." After the subsequent creation of mammals, some Lemurians turned to bestiality. The gods, aghast at the behavior of these "mindless" men, sank Lemuria into the ocean and created a "Fourth Root Race"—endowed with intellect—on Atlantis.

Mu

Mu is a supposed sunken continent in the Pacific Ocean. Before it sank, Mu is believed to be the place where humans first appeared. The ancient Muvians worshipped countless gods, among them deities which were of a vile caste. Reverence for these foul gods may have hastened their downfall.

A prominent feature of Mu was Mount Yaddith-Gho, a towering basalt mountain, its peak topped with a colossal, ancient fortress made of stone which legends claimed was built eons ago by a race of beings that came from another world. Inside the fortress is a huge trapdoor that seals an entryway to the interior of the mountain. More than 200,000 years ago, Mount Yaddith-Gho was situated in the kingdom of Kn'aa. The mountain was sacred because it was the dwelling place of an evil god. Priests of this god built a temple at the mountain's base and offered regular sacrifies to him, lest he emerge from the bowels of the mountain, crawl down its slopes, and bring doom to humanity.

There is much speculation about what caused Mu to sink into the ocean. However, the Zanthu Tablets offers the best explanation. According to the tablets, the high priest Zanthu angered the Elder Gods when he attempted to summon one evil god to challenge the power of another. In retaliation, the Elder Gods destroyed Mu and sank it beneath the waves.

Hyperborea

Hyperborea is a legendary lost continent in the Arctic. Before it was overwhelmed by the advancing ice sheets of the Pleistocene age, Hyperborea was warm and fertile, with lush jungles inhabited by the last remnants of the dinosaurs. A race of pre-human bipeds known as the Voormi once populated Hyperborea, but were wiped out by the human settlers that migrated from the south. These pre-humans built the first capital of Hyperborea at Commoriom. Later, they moved to Uzuldaroum when prophesies foretold of Commoriom's doom. Hyperborea was host to the Eiglophian mountains, a terrifying range of ebon peaks, said to be "glassy-walled", and believed to have been honeycombed with hidden tunnels. The Eiglophian mountains cross the middle of the Hyperborean continent, with one range stretching to the south and another to the east. the tallest peak in the Eiglophian mountains was Mount Voormithadreth, a four-coned extinct volcano, and the dwelling place of various horrors.

Atlantis

Atlantis was a legendary ancient island, whose existence and location have never been confirmed. The first mentions of it are from the classical Greek philosopher Plato, who said that it was destroyed by an earthquake or tsunami about 9,000 years before his own time. Plato did mention it was somewhere outside the Pillars of Hercules (i.e. the Straits of Gibraltar), though some think its location would have been more suitable in one of the cradles of civilization, the Mediterranean Sea. According to historical accounts, the story of Atlantis was about the conflict between the ancient Athenians and the Atlanteans around 9,000 years before Plato's existence. The origins of the story of Atlantis date back to Egyptian priests who transfered it to Solon. Soon Solon passed the tale to Dropides, who was the great-grandfather of Critias. And Critias learned of it from his grandfather also named Critias, son of Dropides. Plato's Timaeus (21e - 25d) and his Critias are the only written accounts of Atlantis, in which Plato offers information on the size and location of Atlantis. Plato's account purports to be based on a visit to Egypt by the Athenian lawgiver Solon, translated by Sonchis, priest of Thebes.

Aristotle wrote of a large island in the Atlantic Ocean that the Carthaginians knew as Antilia. Proclus, the commentator of Timaeus mentions that Marcellus, relying on ancient historians, stated in his Aethiopiaka that in the Outer Ocean there were seven small islands dedicated to Persephone, and three large ones - one of these, comprising 1,000 stadia in length, was dedicated to Poseidon, thus sometimes referred to as Poseidonis. Crantor reported that he, too, had seen the columns on which the story of Atlantis was preserved as reported by Plato: the Saite priest showed him its history in hieroglyphic characters.

125 years before Plato, Greeks tell of Pallas Athene's victory over the nation of Poseidon, or what is believed to be Atlantis. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote that the intellectuals of Alexandria considered the destruction of Atlantis a historical fact and described a class of earthquakes that suddenly opened great chasms in the earth, swallowing parts of the Atlantic Ocean, including Atlantis. Perhaps understood Plato better than the ancient and modern "Aristotelians", says Merezhkovsky. In the Topographia Christiana of the Byzantine friar Cosmas Indicopleustes, which included a chart of the (flat) world, showing an inner, compact mainland surrounded by sea, surrounded by an outer ring-shaped continent bearing the inscription, "The earth beyond the Ocean, where men lived before the Flood." Some sources have claimed the Garden of Eden was placed in the eastern end of this continent. Modern interest remains in this of all the supposed lost continents, with countless theories of where it may lie.

So, from a scientific perspective, should we believe in lost continents? While most would say no, I'd have to disagree and say maybe. We should look at it with an open mind, and until there is proof to the contrary (which is impossible just short of draining the oceans and taking a look,) believe it to be a possibility. We look at evolution as fact, yet in remains a theory. So why not in this case? Just this year, after the tsunami's waters receded in Mahabalipuram, India, a town's ancient ruins were revealed. Who knows what the world's geography millions of years ago looked like for certain? No one.

Except the Yithians.