Laurasia

[law-rey-zhuh, -shuh]

noun Geology.

a hypothetical landmass in the Northern Hemisphere near the end of the Paleozoic Era: split apart to form North America and Eurasia.

Compare Gondwana.

Origin of Laurasia

1930–35; blend of Laurentian(def 2) and Eurasia

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British Dictionary definitions for laurasia

Laurasia

noun

one of the two ancient supercontinents produced by the first split of the even larger supercontinent Pangaea about 200 million years ago, comprising what are now North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia (excluding India)See also Gondwanaland, Pangaea

Word Origin for Laurasia

C20: from New Latin Laur (entia) (referring to the ancient N American landmass, from Laurentian strata of the Canadian Shield) + (Eur) asia

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for laurasia

Laurasia

1931; see Laurentian.

laurasia in Science

Laurasia

[lô-rā′zhə]

A supercontinent of the Northern Hemisphere made up of the landmasses that currently correspond to North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia (except India). According to the theory of plate tectonics, Laurasia separated from Pangaea at the end of the Paleozoic Era and broke up into the current continents in the middle of the Mesozoic Era. Compare Gondwanaland.