a recent report published in GSA Today, the Geological Society of America’s Journal, the authors explain that Zealandia measures 5million sq km, roughly about 2/3 the size of its neighbour, Australia, and the majority of its surface is submerged beneath the South Pacific Ocean.
Moreover, the enormous chunk of land ticks all the right boxes to be recognised as a continent. Just like the seven other existing continents, the researchers confirmed that Zealandia is higher than its surrounding area, possesses its own specific geological traits, a well-defined area and has a crust thicker than of the ocean floor.
There are only 3 main parts of the continent that rise above sea level: the North and South Islands of New Zealand and New Caledonia. It once formed part of the super-continent Gondwana, but went on to break off and float its separate way roughly 100 million years earlier.
Lead author of the paper, geologist Nick Mortimer, stated that Zealandia has been known to scientists for a good 20 years, with many attempting to provide enough evidence to categorise it as a continent in its own right. However, most efforts proved futile due to the presence of large waves in the same area.
“The scientific value of classifying Zealandia as a continent is much more than just an extra name on a list…. that a continent can be so submerged yet unfragmented makes it (useful)… in exploring the cohesion and breakup of continental crust.”
Although there is currently no official scientific entity responsible for acknowledging continents, the authors hope that future research will eventually, literally put Zealandia on the map, with the rest of its continental counterparts.
“What we hope is that Zealandia will appear on world maps, in schools, everywhere,” Mortimer commented.
Zealandia: The 8th Continent Discovered under New Zealand | Chronicle Day
Moreover, the enormous chunk of land ticks all the right boxes to be recognised as a continent. Just like the seven other existing continents, the researchers confirmed that Zealandia is higher than its surrounding area, possesses its own specific geological traits, a well-defined area and has a crust thicker than of the ocean floor.
There are only 3 main parts of the continent that rise above sea level: the North and South Islands of New Zealand and New Caledonia. It once formed part of the super-continent Gondwana, but went on to break off and float its separate way roughly 100 million years earlier.
Lead author of the paper, geologist Nick Mortimer, stated that Zealandia has been known to scientists for a good 20 years, with many attempting to provide enough evidence to categorise it as a continent in its own right. However, most efforts proved futile due to the presence of large waves in the same area.
“The scientific value of classifying Zealandia as a continent is much more than just an extra name on a list…. that a continent can be so submerged yet unfragmented makes it (useful)… in exploring the cohesion and breakup of continental crust.”
Although there is currently no official scientific entity responsible for acknowledging continents, the authors hope that future research will eventually, literally put Zealandia on the map, with the rest of its continental counterparts.
“What we hope is that Zealandia will appear on world maps, in schools, everywhere,” Mortimer commented.
Zealandia: The 8th Continent Discovered under New Zealand | Chronicle Day
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