One of Geography's or science's elemental questions in schools is, How many Continents does the Earth have??
This might look like a simple question, however, it is far from being a simple question, rather it's one of the most debated questions of Earth's Geography and science. How? you wonder. Let's find out!
If you ask this question to any normal student in India, they would easily list the Seven Continents. As shown here
- North America
- South America
- Europe
- Asia
- Africa
- Australia
- Antarctica
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| World Map with Seven Continents |
Some people still consider America as one Continent, so that the total is 'Six' continents.
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| World Map with Six Continents |
A little study of geography will tell you that nothing really divides the continents of Europe and Asia. In many places, both are still considered as one giant continent, known as Eurasia. So that brings our Total to 'Five'.
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| World Map with Five Continents |
If you go back in time before the Suez Canal was built, the African Continent and the Asian continent were connected by a Landbridge, so some consider all Africa, Asia, and Europe as one Continent. That brings our total to 'Four'.
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| World Map with Four Continents |
So as you can see, the answer to the simple question turns out to be quite a conundrum.
What if I told you that there's another answer to this question? and this sounds even stranger than all before??
So, as per many new studies and theories, many scientists believe that the Earth has not 6, not 7, but a total of 8 Continents.
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| World Map with Eight Continents |
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| Cato Trough and Zealandia's Continental Crust. |
The Zealandia is enormous, nearly at 5 Million Sq kilometer, it is as much as double in size to the world's largest island, Greenland and two-third the size of Australia.
One may wonder, "where is this huge landmass? New Zealand is quite a small island.?"
The question is absolutely valid, as most of Zealandia is underwater, but it is not made of oceanic crust, rather it is made of continental crust - the same thing we are sitting on right now. The only problem is that today, out of those 5 Million sq km of continental crust, as much as 94% is beneath sea level and only the continents highest mountains remain above the ocean, which forms the island of New Zealand and New Caledonia, which is roughly around 350,000 sq km. This is smaller than many US states. This was not always this way though.
For Millions of years, Zealandia was part of the major continent, Gondwana -one of two fragments of Greater Pangea. When Gondwana started splitting into modern-day Africa, South America, India, Antarctica, and Australia, Zealandia Split away as well.
During the split, many scientists estimate that the crusts of Zealandia and Antarctica interacted, pushing against each other. This action resulted in a thinner and wider crust of both Continents. Because of this Zealandia's crust was thinner than most of the other Continental crusts, Zealandia floats lower in Earth's molten mantle, just beneath modern sea levels. What this means is, there was a time. approximately 200 million years ago, when Zealandia was in its full form and was probably at the proper height above sea levels.
After splitting away from Australia, Zealandia became almost completely submerged. Because of this, the Zealandia is still not recognized as an official eighth continent of Earth, despite it being a huge piece of continental crust.
So this is the story of Earth's Eighth Continent, the Zealandia.
One may wonder, "where is this huge landmass? New Zealand is quite a small island.?"
The question is absolutely valid, as most of Zealandia is underwater, but it is not made of oceanic crust, rather it is made of continental crust - the same thing we are sitting on right now. The only problem is that today, out of those 5 Million sq km of continental crust, as much as 94% is beneath sea level and only the continents highest mountains remain above the ocean, which forms the island of New Zealand and New Caledonia, which is roughly around 350,000 sq km. This is smaller than many US states. This was not always this way though.
For Millions of years, Zealandia was part of the major continent, Gondwana -one of two fragments of Greater Pangea. When Gondwana started splitting into modern-day Africa, South America, India, Antarctica, and Australia, Zealandia Split away as well.
During the split, many scientists estimate that the crusts of Zealandia and Antarctica interacted, pushing against each other. This action resulted in a thinner and wider crust of both Continents. Because of this Zealandia's crust was thinner than most of the other Continental crusts, Zealandia floats lower in Earth's molten mantle, just beneath modern sea levels. What this means is, there was a time. approximately 200 million years ago, when Zealandia was in its full form and was probably at the proper height above sea levels.
After splitting away from Australia, Zealandia became almost completely submerged. Because of this, the Zealandia is still not recognized as an official eighth continent of Earth, despite it being a huge piece of continental crust.
So this is the story of Earth's Eighth Continent, the Zealandia.
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