Zealandia: Submerged eighth continent 'accurately' mapped by scientists, see pictures

Reaching a significant milestone to the quest that began in 2017, scientists have now mapped the submerged landmass of the eighth continent deep beneath the Pacific Ocean. New Zealand “sits on” the five million square kilometres Zealandia that was first spotted years ago. But researchers at GNS Science in New Zealand have developed two maps only recently that give insights into the “amazing forces” that shaped the continent. Calling them a “scientific benchmark”, the lead author of the tectonic & bathymetric maps, Dr Nick Mortimer has also said that they are “accurate” and “complete”. 

Mortimer, “We’ve made these maps to provide an accurate, complete and up-to-date picture of the geology of the New Zealand and southwest Pacific area - better than we have had before. Their value is that they provide a fresh context in which to explain and understand the setting of New Zealand’s volcanoes, plate boundary and sedimentary basins.”

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94% of Zealandia is submerged

According to reports, at least 94 per cent of Zealandia’s two million square miles are underwater. Therefore, the mapping of the entire continent was a challenge for researchers across the world. The scientists at GNS have contributed to the global effort of researchers to map the entire ocean floor of the world by 2030 including the depiction of coastlines and territorial limits. 

Mortimer told and international media outlet that the maps have offered more evidence of the fact that Zealandia was a separate continent and not a “microcontinent” which was its classification before 2017. At least three years ago, the lead author of the two maps developed of the submerged eighth continent had told a separate media outlet that if the scientists could ‘pull the plug’ on the oceans across the globe, it would reveal that Zealandia ‘stands out’.

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Tectonic Map

While explaining the tectonic map, researchers wrote, “This highlights the 5 million sq km Te Riu-a-Māui / Zealanda continent, a small part of which is on land, but most of which is under the sea. The colours show continental crust in red, orange, yellow and brown hues and oceanic crust in blues. Island arc crust is pink and large igneous province crust is green. (A large igneous province is a large accumulation of igneous rocks resulting from magma travelling through the crust towards the surface).”

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Bathymetric map

While explaining the bathymetric map, researchers said, “This map uses the GEBCO 2019 grid, the first output of the Seabed2030 project which is a global initiative to map the ocean floor of the entire world by 2030. The project is a collaboration between The Nippon Foundation in Japan and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO). NIWA, GNS Science and Land Information New Zealand are jointly leading the South and West Pacific Ocean Regional Data Assembly and Coordination Centre, based in Wellington.”

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