Discovered the underground continent of nearly 5 million km2 hidden under the Pacific Ocean

New research by an international team of scientists shows that the Earth has a continent named Zealandia hidden beneath the Pacific Ocean and associated with New Zealand.

The group of 11 international scientists found New Zealand and New Caledonia to be part of a huge continental shell of 4.9 million square kilometers separated from Australia, RT reported on February 16.

Map of continental Zealandia.(Photo: geosociety.org).

The study, published in the Journal of the American Geographic Society, shows that 94% of the continent is submerged under water , mainly due to the thinly barked crust when the supercontinent separates. Scientists draw conclusions after using gravity mapping and altitude technology using satellite data.

"The classification of Zealandia as a continent is not just adding a name to the list of Earth's continents but its scientific value is much greater. Discovering a continent that can sink most of the water but not The rupture has a lot of significance in exploring the coherence and separation of continental crust, "the team said.

"Based on the many physical and geophysical evidence collected over the past two decades, we believe that Zealandia is not a collection of continental fragments sinking in the water but a complete continent of 4, 9 million km ^2, " the scientists said.

Simple map of Earth's tectonic plates and continents, including Zealandia.

As geographers pool Europe and Asia into the Eurasian supercontinent, the discovery of Zealandia could raise the total number of Earth's continent to 7.

Zealandia's crust is about 10 to 30 km thick and its total area is slightly larger than India. Researchers believe Zealandia is part of a continental plate separated from Antarctica about 100 million years ago, after which it separated from Australia 80 million years ago.