More About Zealandia

More About Zealandia

THIS ARTICLE gives an introduction to the (mostly) sunken continent of Zealandia which lies to the east of Australia and appears above the waves in New Zealand and New Caledonia. 

There is new information garnered from six new boreholes drilled from the ship JOIDES Resolution.

The expedition drilled for samples at six sites, marked on this map with stars. IODP, Author provided

The writers conclusions are that part of the reason for Zealandia's sunken state is that tectonic forces stretched and thinned the continents crust as it was being separated from Gondwana 85 million years ago.

But they also postulate a “subduction rupture event” – a process similar to a massive slow-moving earthquake – spread around the whole of the western Pacific about 50 million years ago.

You can read more about this in the scientific paper on which the introductory article is based, You can get it HERE