Under the waters of the Pacific Ocean in its southwestern part, Zeeland is located - the eighth continent of the Earth. This conclusion was reached by geologists from New Zealand, Australia and New Caledonia, according to the publication Nature News.
The area of the new continent is about five million square kilometers. Most of it, about 94 percent, is located under water, among the terrestrial elements are the islands of New Caledonia and New Zealand's North and South islands.
Location of Zealand.
Zeeland, according to scientists, began to split off from the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana about 100 million years ago. This led to the deformation of the earth's crust, as a result of which most of the continent was under water. Geologists confirm their conclusions with satellite observations, in particular, gravimetry, according to which in the place of Zealand there is a continental, and not oceanic crust or volcanic rocks.
The authors propose to increase the number of geographical (according to the terminology accepted in English-speaking countries) continents from seven (Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, North and South America) to eight, including Zeeland.