A gigantic 'lost continent' that sunk into the ocean 100 million years ago has been discovered by scientists underneath New Zealand.
The sunken world, dubbed as Zealandia is mostly submerged beneath the South Pacific. Zealandia was a distinct geological entity and met all the criteria applied to earth's seven other continents. it stretched 1.9 million square miles and was 94 percent underwater, according to research. This makes it the size of greater India.
The scientists, mostly from the official New Zealand research body GNS Science, said Zealandia was once part of the Gondwana super-continent but broke away about 100 million years ago.
New Zealand has never been regarded as part of the Australian continent but scientists believe that the isolated island belonged to its own super land mass and Zealandia has the same features as the six we are familiar with.
Lead author Nick Mortimer said scientists have been gathering data to make the case for Zealandia for more than 20 years. But their efforts had been frustrated because most of it was hidden beneath the waves.
Mortimer said he wanted Zealandia to become an accepted part of how the Earth is viewed.
According to him: "What we hope is that Zealandia will appear on world maps, in schools, everywhere.
Source: GMA
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