Gondwana Man

Gondwana super continent existed many hundreds of millions of years ago, and the break up of the continent into what we now see as Antarctica, South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, Arabia, Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand occurred over many millions of years. 

The super continent of Gondwana existed as long as 650 million years ago. Over time, as Gondwana slowly spread apart, Australia finally began to drift northwards - one of the last land masses to separate from Gondwana - about 50 million years ago.

As it drifted, it rotated anti-clockwise and the northern tip (Cape York) began entering the warmer climes of the tropics. 

All through these pre-historic times numerous ice ages came and went, each one shaping the north-eastern coast of Australia by

carving away at the land and by causing dramatic fluctuations in sea levels. 

Theses fluctuations were enough to either leave exposed parts of, or completely submerge, the vast continental shelf that spread away from the mainland for several hundred miles. 

When the ice was present, the shelf was hidden beneath it with the massive glaciers carving away ranges of coastal hills and mountains. 

And when the ice melted, over many centuries, the sea levels rose to cover the shelf, cutting off the peaks and summits of those hills and mountains from the mainland, to form offshore islands. 

As time progressed, each ice age played its part and gradually the very outer mountains were worn down to a fraction of their original size. The final rise in sea level, around 6000 - 8000 years ago, flooded the continental shelf again and the peaks and summits that once were became a new set of islands, with many lower peaks remaining completely submerged. 

Medium: Acrylic Paint on Stretched Canvas.