Geoscientists have discovered Zealandia, a continent that had been hiding in plain sight for almost 375 years. Zealandia was part of a supercontinent called Gondwana over 500 million years ago and was first said to be discovered in 1642 by Dutch businessman and sailor Abel Tasman. Most of the newfound continent is underwater, making it an example of how something “very obvious” can take a while to uncover. Zealandia is 1.89 million square miles in size and has been missing for 375 years. It is kind of cool that every continent on the planet has different countries on it, but there are only three territories on Zealandia.
Geoscientists have discovered a continent that had been hiding in plain sight for almost 375 years. The continent known as Zealandia or Te Riu-a-Māui in the Māori language has historically been a subject of speculation about its existence. According to TN News, Zealandia is 1.89 million square miles in size and was part of a supercontinent called Gondwana over 500 million years ago, which included most of Western Antarctica and Eastern Australia.
Zealandia was first said to be discovered in 1642 by Dutch businessman and sailor Abel Tasman, who was desperate to uncover the “Great Southern Continent”. However, he failed to find the new land, but instead, he met with the local Māori who provided valuable information about the surrounding land, including the existence of a large landmass to the east.
It wasn’t until 2017 that geologists discovered that the continent had been hiding in plain sight all along. Scientists agreed on the existence of Zealandia, which started to “pull away” from Gondwana for reasons that scientists are still trying to understand. Most of the newfound continent is underwater and has been used as an example by geologists at the Zealand Crown Research Institute GNS Science on how something “very obvious” can take a while to uncover.
Zealandia is 1.89 million square miles in size, which is comparable to India in size, and it has been missing for 375 years. It is kind of cool, says Nick Mortimer, who led the study, that every continent on the planet has different countries on it, but there are only three territories on Zealandia.
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