There are literally 8 continents, and scientists have lastly mapped the one which’s (largely) hidden underwater

Whether or not you possibly can level all of them out on a map or rattle them off, we have been all taught in school there are seven continents. At the least, above the ocean’s floor. With 95% of the underwater depths not but bodily explored, who is aware of what may very well be down there?

Properly, leave it to persistent scientists who have believed an eighth continent has been there the entire time and are lastly in a position to show it. From Pangea to Gondwana — the subsequent landmass to get aware of is Zealandia, the eighth continent that broke off round New Zealand and has been formally utterly mapped out after many years of analysis.

The continent has been on the radar for a whole bunch of years

If the federal government can lastly admit evidence of aliens, we will discover a continent on the backside of the ocean. And we did. Issues began with Abel Tasman, an explorer from the Netherlands who made his strategy to New Zealand in 1642. He and his group had slightly violent interplay with the Maori tribe that was already there, which resulted in 4 of Tasman’s crew killed.

Unsurprisingly, this made Tasman and the remainder of the Europeans get the heck out of there, however Abel hung out making an attempt to persuade others there was a complete continent that wanted to be checked out within the space. It might solely be a number of hundred years earlier than we received round to on the lookout for it.

Many years of labor have gone into mapping out the continent

In 2017, the crew published a paper within the Geological Society of America reminding us concerning the misplaced continent, holding us updated on their analysis. The workforce had one other massive win in 2019 once they completed mapping the South Zealandia boundary.

From ridges to plateaus to the continental crust — they’ve mapped the ultimate part to finish the Zealandia puzzle and are in a position to introduce the continent to the world.

The continent’s coordinates

We began on one large continent named Pangea. Later, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, South America, and India have been a part of a supercontinent referred to as Gondwana. 

Whereas it’s not fairly half the dimensions of Australia, however six occasions that of Madagascar, Zealandia broke off of Antarctica and Australia to type its personal landmass earlier than settling within the ocean about 2,500 to 4,000 meters below New Zealand and New Caledonia.

When did Zealandia break off of Gondwana?

It was round 85 million years in the past when Zealandia determined to take the deep plunge down into the South Pacific. It slowly sank till about 25 million years in the past, the place it’s been hanging out ever since. 

Will Zealandia see the floor once more?

This one might be not going to occur. Whereas round 95% of it’s nonetheless underwater, we gained’t get to see it inhabited once more anytime quickly. Although realizing historical penguins have been a principal life type on the continent helps. We surprise how massive they have been and in the event that they have been pleasant.

We’re nonetheless uncovering tombs in Egypt, proving aliens exist, and discovering continents within the ocean. If anybody nonetheless needs to say Atlantis isn’t actual, they could wish to rethink these ideas. Not because the backwards and forwards of Pluto being a planet has there been one thing to alter up the schoolbooks like the invention of the eighth continent, Zealandia.

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