"Previously, about 155 million years ago, a piece of continent measuring 5,000 kilometers detached from the western part of Australia. Geological experts confirmed this after discovering a hidden basin deep beneath the ocean known as the Argo Abyssal Plain. The piece of continent, later named Argoland, drifted away from Australia after being dragged by deep ocean currents."

The fragments are now hidden beneath most of the territory of Indonesia and Myanmar, and arrived there at almost the same time. Researchers have also found that the fragmentation of Argoland was accelerated about 215 million years ago. This explains why the 'continent' became so fragmented and made the process of uniting the fragments of Argoland more difficult. "We are truly dealing with mysterious islands, that is why our research took a very long time. We spent seven years putting together this puzzle," said Advokaat.

According to the author of another study, Douwe van Hinsbergen, it is important to know how these lost continents could go unnoticed. Douwe adds that this reconstruction is crucial for our understanding of processes such as the evolution of biodiversity and climate. "This information is also important for discovering mining materials. And most importantly, for understanding how mountains are formed or for knowing the driving forces behind tectonic plates; two phenomena that are closely related," concludes Douwe.