Science: Plausible Pebbles

New evidence that Africa and South America may be parts of a single continent that have drifted apart came from British geologists. They reported finding gorceixite pebbles in Africa's Sierre Leone (south of Dakar) and the Gold Coast.

Gorceixite is a rare mineral that is quite worthless except as an indication that diamonds may be found near by. But the significance of the discovery had nothing to do with diamonds. It had to do with the fact that hitherto gorceixite has been found only in Brazil, whose bulge, if slid eastward around the globe, would fit neatly into the Gulf of Guinea,...

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