Exploring Zealandia: the hypothetical continent turned reality

Although we know New Zealand well, at least from the films in the trilogies Lord of the Rings This the hobbitFew people know that this country is the remnant of a mountain range that “forms the top of a vast continental area extending south and east, now submerged.”

This quote, made in 1995 by American geophysicist and oceanologist Bruce Peter Luyendyk, suggested the existence of an eighth continent, which he simply named Zealandia, about 94% of whose area would be under the sea. Unlike other known continents, Zealandia is a large continental shelf resting on two lithospheric plates..

However, only in 2017, a group of geologists from Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia managed to prove with a study that Zealandia meets all the requirements of the current Geology Dictionary to be considered an autonomous continent.

Mysteries of the sunken continent

Academically, if Zealand has been known as a continent for six years, it is not possible to say the same for the characteristics of its land. because exploring it requires crossing a barrier of more than a kilometer of water. What is known is that this landmass was part of the supercontinent Gondwana before it was torn apart by tectonic forces and submerged 85 million years ago, forming the Tasman Sea.

However, scientists were amazed by the thinness of the young continent’s land mass. They still can’t understand how it collapsed without breaking into smaller pieces. There is also debate about whether Zealandia is above water level or whether it has always been underwater since its inception.

This question is important because if the hypothesis that the continent was under water were true, what kind of life would have lived on the surface of the continent?

Ancient inhabitants of Zealand

Although fossil evidence does not yet exist that could provide clues about the ancestral inhabitants of Zealandia, there are small finds. Remains of sauropods (large-headed dinosaurs) and a possible ankylosaur, both discovered in New Zealand in the 1990s.

In 2006, the bone of a supposed allosaurus was found in the Chatham Islands.. All finds of both the giant herbivores and this Jurassic dinosaur date from the period when Zealandia separated from Gondwana.

There is still a mystery about extant kiwi birds, traditional flightless birds native to New Zealand. To exist Relationship between these round-eyed birds and the extinct giant elephant bird from Madagascar. Although they are geographically isolated from each other, it is possible that they shared a common ancestor in Gondwana.

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