iTunes "gapless": splits files?

[arkitect]

OK. Don't ask me how I did it but I managed to delete a few playlists out of iTunes. 🙁 Managed to get some of the files back using DataRescue.

I re-imported them into iTunes. Most are now nameless with strange file names. Now the curious thing is that all the tracks I had tagged as Gapless seem to have two or more seconds missing where they should flow into the next track.
Not only are they not gapless anymore they are positively gappy. 😡

Irritating and annoying as it seems as if iTunes splits the file into miniscule pieces (tracklets I suppose you could call them 😀) at the end to enable Gapless playback.
Does anyone perhaps have an idea how Gapless is implemented?
Is it a database function?

Thanks! 🙂

 

[arkitect]

Just imported one of the files into iMovie and it seems as if the file has not been split.
But…
The last few seconds of audio has been erased. 😱
Which means I supopose that there is no way to recover the information.
Wow. I didn't realise Apple Lossles with Gapless = Destructive. 😡