Mauritius' beaches contain tiny clues pointing to sunken lost continent

[NBCNews]

Tim GrahamCrystals found on the sandy beaches of Mauritius suggest that chunks of an ancient continent called "Mauritia" may lie beneath the ocean floor, between the land masses of India and Africa.By Nidhi  SubbaramanThe beaches of Mauritius surround the island like a foamy white trim and sprinkled in the sand are clues to a lost, submerged continent.

Ancient zircon crystals harvested from sand samples were found to be curiously older than the island itself. The island is only 8.9 million years old, but one of the hardy crystals dated back almost 2 billion years, and others are estimated to be at least 660 million years old.


Scientists who found the minerals explain that they belong to an ancient continent they have named "Mauritia" and estimate that there are chunks of it lying beneath the ocean and under the ocean floor between the land masses of India and Africa. A team led by Bj