Did You Know That There Is an Eighth Continent on Earth?

Sometimes I help my ten-year-old daughter with her homework on the subjects “I Learn the World” or “My Planet Earth”. Among other things, the curriculum of these subjects includes elements of geography. Once I knew geography well and even won the city Olympiad. But how great was my surprise when, to a simple question about the number of oceans that exist on planet Earth, I answered incorrectly. It turns out that during my adult life, the scientific community has separated the waters around Antarctica into a separate Southern Ocean. I honestly didn't know that.

But it seems that this is not all, and with new research we gain new knowledge. Even about seemingly obvious things. It turns out that the waters of the Pacific Ocean hide the existence of the eighth continent from us. Once this continent was flooded, and only the tops of its mountain ranges rise above the water surface. This mountain range is now known to us as New Zealand.

Source

Recently, scientists have conducted detailed mapping of the ocean floor around New Zealand and have proven the existence of an eighth continent. The fact that it exists has long been suspected, but solid evidence of this has only now been obtained. This continent is called Zealandia in scientific circles.

Zealandia's origin dates back more than 100 million years ago, when it was part of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana. Approximately 85 million years ago, Zealandia separated from West Antarctica, and 25 million years ago from Australia.

While all the continents that formed as a result of the breakup of Gondwana remained above sea level, Zealandia had a different fate. During the Paleogene period, its crust cooled and thinned. This led to the submersion of the continent under water. Now 95% of its surface is flooded. The remaining 5% is known as New Zealand.

Source

A team of researchers led by geologist Nick Mortimer of GNS Science has carried out the first complete geological mapping of North Zealand. Thanks to the dating of rocks, scientists were able to map the main geological units of North Zealand. The resulting map became the most detailed map of the submerged continent.

The study was an important step towards the official recognition of Zealand as a separate continent.

From now on, when I help my child with homework, I will have to check every answer with a Google search 😄.