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24 October 2018
Geologist shares ground-breaking findings at Alex du Toit lecture
From the left: Prof Marian Tredoux, Associate Professor in the UFS Department of Geology, Prof Lew Ashwal, and Snegugu Zigubu, BSc (Hons) Geology student.
The Department of Geology at the University of the Free State (UFS) was recently the host of a lecture in the 2018 Alex du Toit Memorial Lecture series.

The speaker at this event was the A-rated NRF researcher, Prof Lew Ashwal from the University of the Witwatersrand. He addressed academics and geology students on ‘Wandering continents of the Indian Ocean’.

Lost continent found

In this talk he specifically shared the research he conducted on the islands of Madagascar (which he visited 30 times to conduct field work and says it is not for the faint-hearted), the Seychelles, and Mauritius. 

Two things stood out in his lecture: the way in which his findings on the three islands helped to refine details about the assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent, and the report of a ‘lost continent’ found under Mauritius. 

These discussions were linked by Prof Ashwal’s belief that the so-called lost continent he found under Mauritius is a leftover from the break-up of Gondwana,

The discovery was made when he and a team of researchers found zircon from 2000 million years ago on a 9-million-year-young island. He believes that the piece of crust (where the tested zircon probably formed), which was covered by lava during recent volcanic eruptions on the island, is a tiny piece of the ancient continent which broke off from Madagascar, when Africa, India, Australia and Antarctica split up and formed the Indian Ocean.

Media frenzy 

The fact that the team of researchers found these extremely old minerals proves that there are materials under Mauritius that originated from a continent under the island. 

Prof Ashwal is studying the break-up process of the continents in order to understand the geological history of the planet.

For his work Prof Ashwal has enjoyed coverage from publications as far apart in focus from each other as The New York Times and Cosmopolitan magazine. 

News Archive

Programme: Intervarsity, Kovsies and Pukke
2008-08-01

Intervarsity on Kovsie Campus

Friday 8 August 2008:

Netball:
18:00 Soetdoring vs Dinki UFS Netball court 1
18:00 Wag-‘n-Bietjie (UFS) vs Eikenhof UFS Netball court 2
18:00 Marjolein vs Minjonet UFS Netball court 3
18:00 Vergeet-My-Nie 2 (UFS) vs Bellatrix UFS Netball court 4
19:15 Vergeet-My-Nie 1 (UFS) vs Wanda UFS Netball court 1
19:15 Roosmaryn vs Vergeet-My-Nie (PUK) UFS Netball court 2
19:15 Emily Hobhouse vs Karlien UFS Netball court 3
19:15 Soetdoring 2 vs Wag-‘n-Bietjie (PUK) UFS Netball court 4

Badminton:
18:00 UFS vs PUK ( 2 USSA teams) UFS Badminton hall

Squash:
18:00 UFS vs PUK ( 1 USSA teams) UFS Squash courts

Table Tennis:
18:00 UFS vs PUK ( 1 USSA teams) UFS Badminton hall

Hockey:
18:00 UFS Hostel 3 vs PUK Hostel 3 (Men) UFS Astro 2
18:00 Kovsies 1 vs PUK 1 (Men) UFS Astro 1
18:50 UFS Hostel 2 vs PUK Hostel 2 (Men) UFS Astro 2
19:30 UFS Hostel 1 vs PUK Hostel 1 (Men) UFS Astro 1

Soccer:
14:00 UFS 1 vs PUK 1 (Ladies) UFS field 8
16:00 UFS 2 vs PUK 2 (Men) UFS field 8
19:00 Toasts Shimla Park
19:20 UFS 1 vs PUK 1 Shimla Park

Saturday 9 August 2008:

Golf:
8:00 UFS vs PUK (8 men) Bloemfontein GC

Volleyball:
8:30 UFS men vs PUK men UFS Badminton hall

Tennis:
8:30 UFS Ladies vs PUK Ladies (10 players) UFS Tennis courts
8:30 UFS Men vs PUK Men (10 players) UFS Tennis courts

Hockey:
9:00 UFS Hostel 1 vs PUK Hostel 1 (L) UFS Astro 1
9:00 UFS Hostel 2 vs PUK Hostel 2 (L) UFS Astro 2
9:50 UFS Hostel 4 vs PUK Hostel 4 (L) UFS Astro 2
10:15 Kovsies 2 vs PUK 2 (L) UFS Astro 1
10:40 UFS Hostel 3 vs PUK Hostel 3 (L) UFS Astro 2
11:45 Kovsies 1 vs PUK 1 (L) UFS Astro 1

Rugby:
9:00 UFS u/19 vs PUK u/19 Shimla Park
9:00 UFS Agriculture vs PUK Engineers UFS field 2
9:00 Veritas (UFS) vs Overs UFS field 3
9:00 JBM vs Villagers UFS field 4
9:00 Karee vs Caput UFS field 5
10:30 UFS u/21 vs PUK u/21 Shimla Park
10:30 Vishuis vs De Wilgers UFS field 2
10:30 Armentum vs Veritas (PUK) UFS field 3
10:30 Reitz vs Patria UFS field 4
10:30 UFS Ritsims vs PUK 3 UFS field 5
12:00 Irawas vs Ibbies Shimla Park
13:30 Toasts Shimla Park
14:00 Shimlas vs PUKKE Shimla Park

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