The Pacific subcontinent connects Australia and Antarctica

The continent of Zealandia acts as a bridge to help animals move between Australia and Antarctica 80 million years ago.

This was discovered by an international research group on September 27, after a two-month expedition to Zealandia , which included fossil discoveries and large-scale tectonic motion. This is one of the region's first extensive surveys.

Zealandia, the vast land submerged in the southern Pacific Ocean, was announced as the new continent of the Earth earlier this year in an article published in the Journal of the American Geographic Society, according to the Guardian. It includes Lord Howe Island in eastern Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand.

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

"The discovery of microscopic shells of organisms that once lived in warm shallow water, spores and pollen of terrestrial plants, shows that Zealandia's geography and climate are greatly different in " said Gerald Dickens, professor at Rice University, USA.

The team drilled more than 860 m deep in the sea at six different locations throughout the Zealandia region. The collected sediments show evidence of tectonic and ecological changes over millions of years.

"Drill cores are like a time machine, allowing us to reach further in the past. We are rewriting the geological and tectonic history of continental Zealandia at the drilling site," said Stephen Pekar, a researcher. rescued on JOIDES Resolutioni drilling rig, said.

Continental Zealandia is 5 million km2 wide, roughly the size of the Indian subcontinent. It separated from Australia and Antarctica as part of the supercontinent Gondwana about 80 million years ago.

"How important this research is to answer major scientific questions, such as dispersed and evolved animals and plants in the southern Pacific region. Continental Zealandia once there are a number of shallow waters and a strip of land that allows organisms to travel back and forth between ancient Australia and Antarctic continents , ' said Rupert Sutherland, a professor at Victoria University, New Zealand.