The majority of Zealandia was absorbed by the ocean, but it was once thought that it would become the eighth continent on Earth. Geologists claim to have completed mapping of the full almost two million square mile expanse of the underwater land mass at this point. The research team analyzed and dated the undersea geology of North Zealandia, which was the last piece of the puzzle of Zealandia, by using rock samples that were collected from the seabed.
The alleged missing eighth continent
Zealandia, the eighth continent, is said to be located approximately 3500 feet deep within the Pacific Ocean’s southern region. There has been much disagreement about whether it should be labeled a continent or not. Although the term “continent” is disputed, scientists believe that a continent should have clearly defined boundaries and cover an area more than one million square kilometers.
According to the definition, a continent must be raised above the surrounding oceanic crust and have a thicker continental crust than the oceanic crust.
The history of Zealandia is extremely intertwined with that of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana, which disintegrated many hundreds of millions of years ago. According to the most recent hypothesis, Zealandia did the same thing somewhere around 80 million years ago. However, in contrast to its neighbor Australia and a significant amount of Antarctica, Zealandia submerged for the most part, leaving behind only a small portion of what many geologists believe should still be referred to as the eighth continent.
Although New Zealand is the most easily recognized component of Zealandia that lies above the ocean, a number of other islands in the general area are also considered to be a part of the possibly-continent in question.
The most recent study, which was directed by Nick Mortimer and dredged the northern two-thirds of the underwater region, unearthed pebbly and cobbley sandstone, fine-grain sandstone, mudstone, bioclastic limestone, and basaltic lava from a number of different time periods. According to what the researchers reported, they were able to map the key geological units that can be found across North Zealandia by dating the rocks and interpreting the magnetic anomalies.
An odd discovery
According to the BBC, Zealandia is a massive continent 1.89 million square miles in size, or six times the size of Madagascar. The scientists revealed that there are in reality eight continents, with the most recent addition breaking all records as the world’s tiniest, thinnest, and youngest.
Zealandia, according to scientists, has always been tough to research. Scientists are currently investigating collections of rocks and sediment samples recovered from the ocean floor, the majority of which came from drilling sites-others came from the coasts of nearby islands.
According to Phys.org, the investigation of the rock samples revealed geologic patterns in West Antarctica that suggested the presence of a subduction zone near the Campbell Plateau off the west coast of New Zealand.
Despite its recent discovery, geologists suggest that there is still much to learn about the continent. Like, how did it keep together despite being so thin? Another question regarding Zealandia that needs to be answered is when it went submerged. Scientists are hopeful that additional solutions may be discovered in the near future.
