The 8th Continent

 

I know, it looks like I counted wrong. You must be thinking: There are only 7 continents, man! But trust me, I felt the same confusion when I read this on the news.

Zealandia is a submerged continent, also known as Te Riu-a-Māui in Māori, that is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It is considered a microcontinent that broke off from the supercontinent Gondwana around 550 million years ago. Zealandia is approximately 4.9 million square kilometers in size, making it more than six times larger than Madagascar. The landmass is mostly submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean, with only about 6% of it remaining above sea level.

If classified as a microcontinent, Zealandia would be the world’s largest microcontinent and more than twice the size of Greenland, the world’s largest island. It has been described as a submerged continent, continental fragment, and microcontinent. Zealandia supports substantial inshore fisheries and contains gas fields, including the New Zealand Maui gas field near Taranaki. Offshore mineral resources include iron sands, volcanic massive sulfides, and ferromanganese nodule deposits.

Interesting, right? I guess all the schools have to publish a new edition of their Geography textbooks!

Picture credit: Bing

Information credit: Bing