The eighth continent is almost flooded.
Scientists made a discovery under the waters of the Pacific Ocean. There, a section was found, the isolation from Australia and the large area of which confirm that it is a continent – Zealandia.
The results of the study were published in the scientific journal GSA.
What is known about Zealandia
As stated in the study, the region with an area of 4.9 million km2 in the southwest Pacific Ocean consists of continental crust. The region has elevated bathymetry over the surrounding oceanic crust, diverse and silica-rich rocks, and a relatively thick, low-velocity crustal structure.
“Zealandia was once part of Gondwana. Today, it is 94% submerged, largely as a result of widespread crustal thinning in the Late Cretaceous that preceded the breakup of the supercontinent and subsequent isostatic equilibrium,” the scientists note.
The researchers believe that defining Zealandia as a geological continent, rather than as a collection of continental islands, fragments, and slices, more accurately reflects the geology of this part of the Earth. Zealandia provides a new context for studying continental rifting, thinning, and breakup.
Scientists have previously reconstructed Earth's plate tectonics over the past 1.8 billion years using data obtained from rocks.
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