Scientists are mapping the mysterious “lost” continent of Zealand – which was discovered in 2017 – for the first time. The gigantic land mass of the South Pacific disappeared under the waves 23 million years ago.
It was originally part of the giant supercontinent Gondwana, which was made up of continents that currently exist in the southern hemisphere.
Covering 1.9 million square kilometers, Zealandia is six times larger than Madagascar, the next largest continental fragment.
It stretches from southern New Zealand north to New Caledonia and west to the Kenn Plateau on the east coast of Australia.
About 94% of the surface is underwater.
The “hidden” continent is being partially mapped by a deep-water mapping expedition led by the University of Queensland. The sun reported.
The main scientist, Dra. Derya Gürer, spent 28 days at sea on the Falkor research ship of the Schmidt Ocean Institute, exploring the northwestern tip of the continent.
“We are just beginning to discover the secrets of Zealandia,” Dr Gürer said. “It has remained hidden from view until recently and is notoriously difficult to study.”
Radar scans conducted by the team explored the contours of the close connection between the Tasman and Coral seas in the Cato Trough region, the narrow corridor between Australia and Zealand.
In total, they have provided 14.00 square miles of topographic data to the SeaFood 2030 project.
The project aims to produce a publicly available bathymetric map to measure the depth of the world’s ocean floor in 2030.
Read more: Scientists discover a new continent called “Zealandia”
“The seabed is full of clues to understanding the complex geological history of both Australia’s and Zealand’s continental plates,” Dr Gürer said.
“These data will also improve our understanding of the complex structure of the crust between the Australian and Zeeland plates. It is believed to include several small continental fragments, or microcontinents, that separated from Australia and the Gondwana supercontinent in the past. “
Zealandia is thought to have separated from Gondwana between 85 and 79 million years ago.
The supercontinent comprised what is now South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Zealand, Arabia, and the Indian subcontinent.
About 23 million years ago, Zealandia was thought to be almost completely submerged in water.
Experts spent 20 years collecting data to show that the submerged land mass was a continent. His efforts were thwarted because most of it is hidden under the waves.
The article originally appeared in The Sun.