Scientists specializing in geoscience have discovered proof of the existence of two submerged landmasses that were previously unknown to modern humans.
These sunken continents were found at considerable depths beneath the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
According to two studies conducted in February 2017, as reported by Britannica, scientists have made significant discoveries about two hidden continents.
In the first study, a team of researchers detected an extensive region beneath the Indian Ocean where gravity differed from the surrounding area.
This anomalous gravity data suggested the existence of a dense mass of continental crust between Madagascar and India. Moreover, upon analyzing the rocks and minerals in the area, the scientists discovered additional proof of a sunken continent.
In the southern Pacific Ocean, scientists have discovered a sunken landmass close to the eastern coast of Australia, as well as another one in the Indian Ocean. In the first study, researchers identified a type of silicate mineral called zircons, which originated from volcanoes that erupted between 2.5 billion and 3 billion years ago.
The difference in age between the zircons and the rocks on the island of Mauritius, formed about 8 million years ago near Madagascar, implies that an older landmass existed.
Experts believe that it spanned from the southern tip of India all the way to Mauritius.
Geoscientists have discovered that Zealandia, a large sunken plateau measuring around 1,900,000 square miles, is composed of continental crust.
Researchers believe that Zealandia, which is said to have broken away from Australia around 80 million years ago, was once home to extinct creatures. Archaeologists found well-preserved 3 million-year-old fossils, believed to be of ancient birds that might be the forefathers of modern-day penguins.
Additionally, one study suggests that the Saint Bathans mammal, a late-surviving “archaic” mammal species, might have existed in Zealandia.
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