As you know, there are 7 continents, Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America, Antarctica and Oceania (Australia).
Zealandia would be also known as the '8th continent' or the 'hidden continent'.
It might of sound like Zealand, of New Zealand, right?
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| Map of Zealandia - depth (m) Credit: http://static.stuff.co.nz/files/zealandia.jpg |
Zealandia covers New Zealand and New Caledonia. As you can see, the land of Zealandia is mostly underwater. Zealandia is also known as the New Zealand continent.
Zealandia sunken after breaking away from Australia 60-85 million years ago. Antarctica separated from Zealandia between 85-130 million years ago. If Zealandia was still here, then Zealandia would've been the 8th continent.
Zealandia covers about 4.9 million square km and 94% is underwater. Zealandia is about 2/3 the size of Australia. The water depth in the ocean is about 4,000 metres deep and Chatams island and New Caledonia is about 1,000 metres. Zealandia is large and enough to be recognised as a conformed continent.
Zealandia was up about five per cent of the area of Gondwana (a supercontinent, now it's part of India). The thickness range of Zealandia is from 10 to 30 kilometres, where it gets up to 40 kilometres in the South Island. Zealandia is six times bigger than Madagascar and twelve times bigger than Mauritia.
Here is a video about Zealandia. It's about exploring Zealandia.
