Explore the 5 million km2 continent submerged under the Pacific Ocean

Scientists are planning to explore Zealandia, the eighth continent hidden under the Pacific Ocean with an area of ​​more than 5 million square kilometers.

The new scientific expedition will focus on drilling deep into the crust or top layer of continental Zealandia about half the size of Australia, Live Science reported yesterday. Researchers will find evidence of the impact of subduction between tectonic plates on the formation of the Zealandia volcanic and continental chain 50 million years ago. The trip also helped to understand how the event of changing the Earth's crust changes the ocean currents and climate.

Map of continental Zealandia.(Photo: IODP).

The expedition No. 371, funded by the National Science Foundation and the International Ocean Exploration Program, brings together more than 30 scientists to participate in a two-month journey on a large drill JOIDES Resolution, departing on 27 / 7.

"We are looking at the most appropriate place in the world to learn how the subduction of the continent begins. This trip will answer many questions about Zealandia," said Gerald Dickens, co-directing scientist. The expedition and professor of Earth science, environment and planet at Rice University, Texas, USA.

The team will visit 6 Tasman Sea locations between Australia and New Zealand to drill sediment and rocky soil from the Earth's crust. Each core will lie at a depth of 300-800m, meaning scientists can learn back in time tens of millions of years.

"If you returned about 100 million years ago, Antarctica, Australia and Zealandia were all on the same continent. About 85 million years ago, Zealandia separated and after a while the seabed between this continent and Australia expanded. on both sides of the mid-ocean ridge separating the two , " Dickens said.

Simulation continent Zealandia.(Video: Aukland Museum).

After the transformation process, the area between the two continents shrinks. But about 50 million years ago, the Pacific tectonic plate plunged under New Zealand, lifting two archipelagos, forming a chain of volcanic volcanoes in the Pacific, reducing the pressure of compressing the ocean shells between the continents location."What we want to understand is why and when the stages from expansion to suppression take place," Dickens said.

In February, scientists announced the discovery of a hidden continent in the Pacific in GSA Today magazine based on some evidence. Seabed rock off New Zealand is made up of many different ancient rocks found only on continents. Zealandia's continental shelf is much more shallow than in the surrounding ocean shell. Stone samples also show a thin ocean shell between Australia and the submerged part of continental Zealandia.