Geologist discovers a new evidence underneath the southwest Pacific Ocean that deserves to be called a continent. The first line of evidence comes essentially from looking at the ocean floor around New Zealand.

According to Nature, the region spans 5 million square kilometer, which includes New Zealand and New Caledonia. According to the team leader Bick Mortimer, a geologist at GNS Science in Dunedin, New Zealand, if the world's ocean can be pull, Zealandia would probably have been recognized as a mainland.

Mortimer added that the continental racks of Zealandia lie at the depth of around 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) underneath ocean level, while the nearby maritime crust is around 9,800 feet (3,000 m) beneath that. However, there is no global body accountable for assigning official mainland, thus the researchers must hope that enough of their associates will consider recognizing the landmass.

LiveScience reported that Zealandia was born from the separation of the supercontinent of Gondwana, around 85 million years ago. At that time, the sea started to rise between Australia and New Zealand. Zealandia is sort of different because it got expanded after it detached from the supercontinent of Gondwana.

Mortimer said that the Australian's plate movement is cutting Zealandia in two, which make the continent separate in ten of million years. He added that while the new discoveries are probably not going to change seismological maps around New Zealand, it might correct the depiction of geology and tectonics of the planet.

In any case, Bruce Luyendyk, a professor emeritus of geology at the University of California said that there is some point of references for recognizing the mainland limits that lie underneath the water. Luyendyk added that the other mainland has continental shelves that project further out into the ocean, and United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which sets the economic limits of the country along its coastline, which already recognized these geologic boundaries.

Related