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Scientists have surveyed the lost continent of Zealandia in the South Pacific:
A team of 32 scientists from 12 countries returned last week from a nine-week voyage to study the once-lost continent of Zealandia in the South Pacific. This mostly submerged or hidden continent is an elevated part of the ocean floor, about two-thirds the size of Australia, located between New Zealand and New Caledonia. Scientists said earlier this year they thought Zealandia should be recognized as a full-fledged Earth continent. This was one of the first extensive surveys of the region, and the scientists who carried it out – affiliated with the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) at Texas A&M University – have just arrived back in Hobart, Tasmania, aboard the research vessel JOIDES Resolution. They said their work has already revealed that Zealandia might once have been much closer to land level than previously thought, providing pathways for animals and plants to cross between continents.
Little is known about Zealandia because it's submerged about two-thirds of a miles (more than a kilometer) under the sea. Until now, the region has been sparsely surveyed and sampled.
Scientists taking part in the 2017 expedition drilled deep into Zealandia's seabed at six sites in water depths of more than 4,000 feet (1,250 meters). They collected 8,000 feet (2,500 meters) of sediment cores from layers that record how the geography, volcanism and climate of the region have changed over millions of years.
Also at Smithsonian Magazine, The Guardian, and the JOIDES Resolution blog (drilling ship).
Zealandia: Earth's Hidden Continent (open, DOI: 10.1130/GSATG321A.1) (DX)
Previously: Geologists Spy an Eighth Continent: Zealandia
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Tuesday October 03 2017, @11:31AM (7 children)
Am I the only one that would like to see them double of treble the new zealand landmass by building a grid of off-shore walls and pumping out the water?
I mean, the engineering of that - while mundane - would be fascinating to watch.
Also, more farmland, great place to produce salt u.s.w.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 03 2017, @12:02PM
Or build a wall around New Caledonia and call it the New Hadrian's Wall.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Tuesday October 03 2017, @02:17PM (5 children)
And a failure of the wall would make New Orleans look like a minor event.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Tuesday October 03 2017, @02:43PM (2 children)
Hence "a grid of [..] walls", so you will end upp with cells that can flood individually.
What I had in mind (like salt production) would require occasional intentional flooding of a cell.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 03 2017, @06:24PM (1 child)
I thought you were joking (Zeeland is in the Netherlands).
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Tuesday October 03 2017, @07:01PM
Was half-joking, it would wreck havoc on the ecology but would still be impressive to watch.
Regarding the Zeeland/New Zealand, to quote wikipedia "In 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 03 2017, @11:00PM
The important thing is that it will still keep out the Mexicans.
(Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Tuesday October 03 2017, @11:02PM