On Earth found another continent. Yes, that's right

world Map looks familiar, but we're not seeing all the continents.

We are taught from childhood that the Earth has six continents and six continents, though they are not strictly correspond to each other. Where America is divided into North and South, in terms of continents, they are one of the world — America. Eurasia, on the contrary, one continent, which is divided into two parts of the world: Europe and Asia. Like, everything is smoothly, but now scientists deny this and claim that there is another continent. Here is a twist... In fact, researchers have long found him, only we forgot to mention. Now have better data and scientific evidence that can change the appearance of mankind on our planet.

How on Earth continents

Interestingly, that is not always so simple, and in all countries number of continents think the same. It is not related to a new continent, but extremely interesting from the point of view of different approaches to science.

It Turns out that in different countries people think different continents and different unite them. For example, in China, India and partly in Western Europe, it is believed that the seven continents. In these countries consider Europe and Asia different continents.

In Spanish-speaking countries and parts of Eastern Europe, including Greece, it is customary to unite the Americas into a single continent, but still to divide Eurasia and to talk about the six continents, but with the other hand. There are even countries that join America and Africa with Eurasia, and the output is only 4 continent (Afroeurasia, America, Antarctica, Australia). We have also decided to talk about the six continents of the Americas division and the unification of Eurasia.

the Earth is interesting not only with its continents, but also their faults.

New continent

According to a recent study, it is possible to speak about what on Earth found a new seventh continent under the name ”Zealand”. Found it just now, but over the millennia he was literally under his nose.

11 researchers argue that New Zealand and New Caledonia is not just a chain of Islands. Instead, they are part of a single continental plate with an area of 4.9 million square kilometers (1.89 million square miles). While it has nothing to do with the stove, which is Australia.

the lost continent.

Scientists said that it is not , which happened suddenly, as the result of years of research. 10 years ago they didn't have the opportunity to formulate all of your observations together, as data is simply not enough.

the Existence of the new continent could not prove it, but here it is.

Many other scientists among those who did not participate in the study took the researchers ' findings and agreed with them, with a few minor exceptions.

Why do new Zealand continent

In fact, that this region was something ”fishy”, began in 1995. First, who said this was Bruce Luyendyk (Bruce Luyendyk). However, according to him, he was not trying to describe a new continent. Proposing a name Zealand, he rather spoke about the geological Association of New Caledonia and flooded the land around them. It was all part of the supercontinent Gondwana, which existed 200 million years ago.

What if

Now researchers have advanced the idea of Luandia a few big steps forward. They reviewed the known evidence according to four criteria that geologists use to read a piece of the crust of the continent.

the

signs of a continent

the

The Land rises high enough relative to the bottom of the ocean the

• Should be a variety of the three types of rocks (igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary)
the
• the Continent is a more dense area of the cortex than the bottom of the ocean around him
the
• Clearly defined border around a fairly large area

Over the last few decades geologists have already determined that New Zealand and New Caledonia meet the requirements of the first three paragraphs. Eventually this led to the fact that more and more scientists believe the region is a continent, not just a group of Islands.

a New continent can change things, although it is impossible to settle. Not yet.

As for the fourth point, then had doubts, and many previous studies have shown that the territory can consist of many microcontinents. In this case it was impossible to talk about a new full continent. But in the new study used the detailed different points of the surface and the seabed. In the end, was received evidence that Zealand really is a whole from a geological point of view.

weakens the Earth's magnetic field.

the Continent of Australia and the continent Zealand

According to scientists, part of the land, which is India, too, many years ago was a separate continent, and even met allthe four given characteristics. Many millions of years ago, she teamed up with Eurasia, and it became a part of it.

Apparently, Zealand has not yet had time to unite with Australia, but according to scientists all there is to it. In the meantime, the failure of the seabed, separating the two continents, has a width of 25 kilometres (15.5 mi)

However, there is one problem with the new continent. It is located at the junction of two (Australian and Pacific). This split makes the region more like a group of continental fragments than on a single plate. But the researchers note that Arabia, India and some parts of Central America have similar units, but are still considered as parts of larger continents. The important thing is that Zealand not divided into microcontinents and is a single continental plate.

Tectonic plates tend to move. Including and carrying away the continents. So India, too, was moved.

What's More, the researchers write, samples of rocks show that Zealand was made of the same continental crust that was once part of Gondwana, and that it migrated in ways similar to the continents of Antarctica and Australia.

The Reason why the new continent could not open so long, is that many millions of years ago, he gradually , and at the top there were only the areas that now meet New Zealand, New Caledonia and some smaller Islands. It is only about five percent of the territory of the discovered continent.

The Scientific value of the classification Zealand as a continent is much more than just another name in the list — researchers — that the continent can be so flooded, but not fragmented, makes it useful. This is suggestive of a geodynamic change in the earth's crust.

Zealand in the global economy

Now I wonder how will New Zealand from the point of view of international law. On the one hand, agreements of the United Nations are specifically mentioned continental shelves as boundaries, defining where to find resources. But the newly discovered data allow to think what to do next and what is considered territory of the country.

Although some major changes in this area is unlikely, but if anyone starts to spin this, you can get a very interesting story.