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New Zealand May Be the Tip of a Submerged Continent (theoutline.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report on The Outline: A group of geologists believe it is time to name a new continent. A paper published in the March/April edition of GSA Today, the journal for the Geological Society of America, lays out the case for Zealandia as the seventh and youngest geological continent. In the past, New Zealand was thought to be part of a collection of "islands, fragments, and slices," the authors wrote, but it's now understood to be part of a solid landmass. New Zealand is essentially the highest mountains of a 1.9 million square mile landmass that is 94 percent underwater, according to the paper. The authors believe it is both large and isolated enough to qualify as a continent. They note that it is elevated relative to the oceanic crust, as befits a continent, and its distinctiveness and thickness are also on par with continents one through six. What does it matter if Zealandia is officially a continent? Reclassifying the area would encourage geologists to include it in studies of comparative continental rifting and continent-ocean boundaries.

6 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. Stop copying Australia by Carewolf · · Score: 3, Funny

    New Zealand we love you. You don't have to be like Australia. We are worried about you. Just be yourself. You don't have to be a continent.

  2. Extradite Kim Dot Com by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 3, Funny

    Extradite Kim Dot Com, and it will re-emerge.

    --
    Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  3. Cthulhu fhtagn! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!

  4. Re:Redefining words so we can make a "discovery" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    There is no clear, universally agreed definition of what a continent is.

    There is only one solution: we need an international committee to define what a continent is, and then decide that NZ is a dwarf continent.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uBcq1x7P34

  5. 94% submerged "continent"? by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1, Funny
    You could make a better case for the whole world to be called a single continent with just 74% under water.

    Looks like Mother Earth has a better batting average than New Zealand.

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    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  6. Re:Redefining words so we can make a "discovery" by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just like planets, species etc.

    Ceres and Pluto suggested we call it a dwarf continent.