An international team of researchers studied rock samples obtained from the ocean floor to determine the boundaries of the hypothetical “seventh continent” – Zealand.
This is reported by “Tectonics”.
In 2017, scientists spoke for the first time about the hypothetical existence of a previously unknown continent off the coast of New Zealand, appropriately named “Zealand.” The continent’s area is more than 5 million square kilometers, which is twice the area of the Indian subcontinent. But despite its considerable size, it is not surprising that it was not discovered earlier: about 95% of Zealandia’s area is submerged under water in the southwest Pacific Ocean.
All that is visible on the surface are the remains of a large mountain range and a few isolated peaks that are now small oceanic islands. Some have suggested that this “lost continent” inspired the myth of the lost civilization of Atlantis, but Zealand disappeared under the sea long before humans arrived on Earth.
The article writes: Zealand fits the basic parameters of the definition of “continent” in the geological interpretation, but is practically inaccessible and is little known in detail. Now a team of geologists has produced the first geological map, “using a combination of rock samples dredged from the ocean and geophysical mapping techniques.”
The map was made using rock samples dredged from the seafloor north of New Zealand. They discovered large sandstone formations along the borders of Zealandia and deposits of basalt pebbles. The sandstones are about 95 million years old, the mixture of granite and volcanic pebbles is up to 130 million years old, and the basalts are 40 million years old.
Vessels mapping the magnetic field in the strait between Australia and Antarctica discovered various magnetic anomalies. One of them is of great interest to geologists, since it indicates the existence of an extensive fault zone along the southern border of Zealand. This fault probably acts as a “scar” in the resulting earth’s crust when Zealand broke away from Antarctica more than 200 million years ago, becoming an independent continent.
We also reported that scientists created a dictionary of the ancient Greek language in 23 years.
2023-09-30 10:16:38
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