A 2017 expedition claims to have definitive evidence of a new continent about as big as India. And the discovery of Zealandia could have international economic implications.
N. Mortimer et al./GSA TodayMap of Earth ’s continents include Zealandia .
Everyone sleep together the story of Atlantis , and while that ’s just a myth , sunken landmasses are very real — and few are more fascinating than Zealandia , the landmass ambush beneath New Zealand .
Mostly submerged and extend almost two million square mile , Zealandia has long pique the pastime of scientists . researcher are promising that further study of the landmass will give perceptivity into the seafloor , climate history , and even pollution . Zealandia could also have major economical implications for New Zealand itself .
N. Mortimer et al./GSA TodayMap of Earth’s continents including Zealandia.
Now , a squad from the University of Queensland has started to map out Zealandia ’s boundaries — offering the public an incredible face at an submerged realm .
The First Discovery Of Zealandia
Zealandia is a submerged continent entomb deep beneath the waves of the Pacific ⏤ and it ’s inhabited .
That ’s because more or less six percentage of the land mass is still above sea level as New Zealand and its outlying islands . These are the highest point of what was once a much bigger expanse of land .
Wikimedia CommonsA topographical single-valued function of Zealandia , with New Zealand showing as the major landform . The east slide of Australia is on the left .
Wikimedia CommonsA topographical map of Zealandia, with New Zealand showing as the major landform. The east coast of Australia is on the left.
As a outcome , Zealandia was n’t so much discovered as it was recognize .
In 1995 , an American geophysicist and oceanographer named Bruce Luyendyk noticed Zealandia for the first time . Luyendyk was studying Gondwana — a piece of the supercontinent Pangaea that geologist suppose split apart around 180 million years ago to give us present - solar day South America , Africa , India , Australia , and Antarctica — when he made the find .
Luyendyk had been analyse the realm since the 1980s . He was attempt to jibe the Antarctic geologic lineament to the edges of New Zealand — a project akin to trying to match composition of a decay puzzler back together .
Wikimedia CommonsA map of Zealandia, outlining important points. New Caledonia is to the north. The Tasman Sea is to the west.
This work led Luyendyk and his fellow researchers to take a skinny aspect at the seabed around New Zealand . What they find astonished them : The rock ‘n’ roll beneath the island land might be a continent in its own right .
What Makes A Continent?
Wikimedia CommonsA function of Zealandia , outline important points . New Caledonia is to the north . The Tasman Sea is to the west .
Most find out in school day that there are seven continents . However , geologist havepositedthat there are only six — as Europe and Asiacan be considereda single continent .
Whether Zealandiais study the seventh or the eighth continent , then , was long up for debate . Geologists argued that it should be believe a continent in its own right field .
Wikimedia CommonsBall’s Pyramid, a dramatic reminder of Zealandia’s volcanic-formed landscape.
They explicate that the rock beneath New Zealand , by Luyendyk ’s computation , meets the standard which classify a landmass as a continent . Luyendyk anticipate the area Zealandia when he realise that New Zealand and its outlying island were n’t actually disparate , and it was n’t long before other research worker took up the drive and point to all the qualities that made Zealandia essentially the same as other Continent — just subaquatic .
Wikimedia CommonsBall ’s Pyramid , a dramatic admonisher of Zealandia ’s volcanic - formed landscape .
Also , Zealandia is raise above the ocean floor , which means there ’s a clear difference between the underwater land mass and the fence in seabed and not just in their various superlative . Zealandia , unlike the neighboring ocean floor , is made from the bulkier , less dense textile that forms the continental gall .
Wikimedia CommonsFossils of tiny shells with a 1 euro coin for comparison.
Its composition also meets the demand for a continent . Like other continent , it is made up of three separate types of rock : pyrogenic , metamorphic , and sedimentary . This variety let on that it was organize and shaped by volcanic action , heating , pressure , and erosion , just like in other continents .
Zealandia is also too big to be count just a continental fragment . Although some argued that Zealandia better deserve the less impressive designation “ microcontinent , ” others pushed back , noting that the rock beneath New Zealand is significantly great than even the big recognized microcontinent .
Whether Zealandia comprise a continent or not can seem like a rather dry and proficient point for scientists to argue over . But the solution had literal consequences for the area economically .
Dan Buehler/University of QueenslandDr. Gürer and the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel,Falkor.
The United Nations determines a country ’s right to drill off - shore base on continental boundary — and if the entire landmass of Zealandia belongs to New Zealand , that importantly changes the island Carry Amelia Moore Nation ’s fortune .
By some estimation , tens of billionsof dollars Charles Frederick Worth of fossil fuels could suddenly become uncommitted to the rural area , once Zealandia was recognized as a continent .
In 2017 , the debate add up to an death : Zealandia was officially class as Earth ’s 8th continent .
Piecing Together Zealandia’s History
Few squad did more to emphasise Zealandia ’s right to continent status than the hostile expedition that set out todrillinto Zealandia ’s submerged rock in 2017 .
The project was a tricky one . The lose continent is hidden beneath two - thirds of a knot of urine . To get a reach of sample distribution , the researchers had to practice 4,000 foot into the deposit over a period of nine week .
But their efforts proved fruitful . geologist conceive that Zealandia separate from Antarctica somewhere between 85 and 130 million year ago , then broke off from Australia between 60 and 85 million year ago .
This research confirms that hypothesis , and further posited that as Zealandia divide from Australia , its crust stretched and thinned until it throw away to the bottom of the ocean .
No human ever saw the continent above the body of water , but researcher were able to find hundreds of fossil , crush shells , and pollen samples that suggest that the continent spent more time than scientists previously thought at a comparatively shallow deepness .
This means that , for a time , animals easily thwart between the continent ’s high points , and plants address its tropical peaks .
Wikimedia CommonsFossils of midget eggshell with a 1 euro coin for comparison .
The news was a decisive piece in several ongoing puzzler .
First , the find that the neighborhood ’s climate was once tropic offers scientists fresh clime data point that does n’t just help them to realise the past , but also makes them better able to predict climate shifts in the time to come .
The discovery also answers longstanding questions about how the region ’s animals evolve and spread from continent to continent . It paints a fascinating newfangled word-painting of Zealandia as a verdant jungle teeming with life — a jungle that ’s now at the bottom of the ocean .
Mapping A ‘Hidden’ Continent
Since Zealandia was destine as a continent in 2017 , scientist have been play to map out its limit . This is easier suppose than done , considering so much of the continent is subaqueous .
“ We ’re only just lead off to find Zealandia ’s secrets,”said Dr. Derya Gürer , an globe scientist with the University of Queensland . “ It ’s remained enshroud in plain sight until recently and is notoriously difficult to study . ”
Dan Buehler / University of QueenslandDr . Gürer and the Schmidt Ocean Institute ’s research vessel , Falkor .
The University of Queensland has teamed up with the Schmidt Ocean Institute to map the continent . As the master scientist on the project , Gürer pass 28 daysmapping 14,285 square milesalong Zealandia ’s northwestern continent .
“ Our expedition collected seafloor topographic and magnetised data to pull ahead a respectable savvy of how the narrow connection between the Tasman and Coral Seas in the Cato Trough region — the narrow corridor between Australia and Zealandia — was formed , ” Gürer explained .
In addition to mathematical function Zealandia , the seafaring project also served other purposes . It shared 14,000 square miles of data to the Seabed 2030 undertaking , which aspire to give rise a map detailing the depth of the ocean by 2030 . To appointment , less than 10 percentage of the seafloor has been map .
Plus , as the research vesselFalkormoved through the ocean , it picked up plenty of seawater — and plastic — for scientist to study . Out of more than 100 samples they take in , only one had no visible microplastics , which is a refer fact as microplastics can envenom nautical species .
“ It was n’t a huge surprise that we regain microplastics given their prevalence globally , but it was still quite disgraceful how much we notice , ” Gürer read .
For now , scientist have their work cut out for them . The sprawl continent of Zealandia stretch across almost two million square miles . The most recent single-valued function project capture just 14,000 .
“ The seafloor is full of clues for read the complex geologic history of both the Australian and Zealandian continental crustal plate , ” Gürer continued .
Indeed , as researcher like her press ahead in examine the ancient sea trading floor , excitation mature around what the lose continent can reveal .
After this look at the lose continent of Zealandia , take up on theBimini Roadin the Bahamas . Or take a face atLemuria , another lost continent south of India .
