What is Zealandia?
Zealandia is a hidden continent (near Australia) that exists underwater, with only some part of the land visible above the sea. Scientists have proven its existence, calling it the "missing" continent of Zealandia.
Millions of years ago, lands like India, Australia, Africa, South America, and Antarctica were joined together, forming a single continent called Gondwana. It later broke off into the different countries and continents as they exist today. Zealandia was also part of the Gondwana continent.
Zealandia separated from Gondwana 105 million years ago and sank under the sea. Geologists are still trying to find out why Zealandia broke apart from Gondwana.
Even though scientists recently proved it as a missing continent, Zealandia’s existence was recorded years ago.
When was its existence first recorded?
Abel Tasman, a Dutch sailor, first recorded Zealandia in 1642 while searching for it. Tasman was unable to locate this new land. During his journey, he landed on New Zealand's Southern Island.
Here he met the Māori people, who told Tasman about a large landmass to the east of the Māori. But, the Europeans believed it was not the place they were looking for.
So, the existence of Zealandia would not be acknowledged by scientists until almost 400 years later.
How did geologists confirm its existence?
In 2017, a team of geologists announced that they had discovered Zealandia. Most of it is underwater, with only a few islands (like New Zealand) visible.
Zealandia was discovered by geologists surveying the seafloor. They studied the geology of the continent's land masses as well as the history of the region. Satellite data was also used.
Despite its discovery in 2017, little is known about this continent. Zealandia has proven to be a tough subject to study for geologists. Nobody knows what lived there many years ago.
What did we learn from this article?
We learned that Earth is full of surprises. There is still plenty to learn about our planet. It's fascinating to think that there can be more hidden land masses or geological features just waiting to be discovered.
