The Missing Continent: What we know about Zealandia, the eighth continent discovered after 375 years

Geoscientists have uncovered a continent that has been hidden in plain sight for nearly 375 years. According to Phys.org, a small team of seismologists and geologists have updated the map of Zealandia, also known as Te Riu-a-Māui in the Māori. Data from dredging rock samples recovered from the ocean floor were used by the researchers to discover it. Let’s take a closer look. Also read: Earth outside ‘safe operating space’ for humanity, says new study. Are we in danger? All about the Zealandia According to BBC, Zealandia is a vast continent that is 1.89 square miles (4.9 million square kilometres) in size, which is more than six times the size of Madagascar. It formerly belonged to the former supercontinent of Gondwana, which was formed some 550 million years ago and effectively included all the territory in the southern hemisphere. According to scientists, there are actually eight continents and the newest one is the smallest, thinnest, and youngest in the entire planet, shattering all previous records. The new continent is thought to be 94 per cent underwater, with the remaining six per cent being made up of islands, much like New Zealand. [caption id=“attachment_13176942” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A detailed map of Zealandia was published in the journal Tectonics by a global team of geologists and seismologists. Pexels[/caption] Abel Tasman, a Dutch businessman and sailor who was driven to find the “Great Southern Continent,” is credited with making the first known discovery of it in 1642, according to Wion News. He tried to locate the general region but was unsuccessful. Geologists did not learn that the continent had been concealed from view all along until 2017. Also read: Why has Earth’s pole moved? What’s the connection to India? The new study Now on Tuesday, a detailed map of Zealandia was published in the journal Tectonics by a global team of geologists and seismologists. “We believe Zealandia is the first of Earth’s continents to have its basement, sedimentary basins, and volcanic rocks fully mapped out to the continent-ocean boundary,” the team explained in their paper. According to the researchers, between 100 and 80 million years ago, the earth’s crust underwent significant thinning, which ultimately led to the continent sinking. This thinning was probably caused by the crust being stretched in different directions. IFL Science reported that there is proof that Zealandia previously supported a diverse range of plants and animals, including shells from animals that lived in shallow water and pollen spores from land plants that are now mostly submerged deep beneath the ocean. Using information from dredged rock samples found on the ocean floor, they were also able to guess its shape and structure. After researching the geological trends in West Antarctica, they got to the conclusion that there might be a subduction zone close to the Campbell Plateau off the west coast of New Zealand. By analysing samples of rocks and silt taken from the ocean floor, the researchers improved the maps of Zealandia that already existed. Some of these samples came from the coastlines of nearby islands, whereas the majority came from drilling sites. The geologists at Zealand Crown Research Institute GNS Science acknowledged that despite the majority of the newly discovered continent being underwater, it took some time for anything “very obvious” to be discovered. “(It’s) a process which we don’t completely understand yet, Zealandia started to be pulled away,” Tulloch explained, indy100.com reported. The study also added that the team is now attempting to determine when Zealandia first began to “pull away” from the supercontinent Gondwana, which at one point covered the majority of Western Antarctica and Eastern Australia more than 500 million years ago. With inputs from agencies