Centuries ago there was a navigator who was convinced that there was another continent besides those already known. In fact, however, he was never able to prove this. Now science has found that he was absolutely correct, but it took 375 years to confirm this.
According to BBC Future publications, it was Abel Tasman the navigator who suggested in 1642 that there was a continent unknown to all. It was a completely unexplored land that didn’t even have a name. So it was called Terra Australis, and Tasman embarked on an expedition to prove his point.
From Jakarta in Indonesia he could cross the sea and reach wherever he wanted. However, their boat was attacked by Maoris, the indigenous people of New Zealand, and four of their crew eventually died. Abel Tasman returned to his homeland and gave up exploring the place he claimed existed.
Does the unknown continent really exist?
The answer is yes! In 2017, a group of geologists discovered the Zealand, a region that eventually disappeared under water. This was one of the reasons why many scholars could not find this new continent.
Called Te RiuaMāui in the Maori lineage, Zealand is 94% submerged and only a few islands protrude, including New Zealand. The area measures 4.9 million square kilometers, about six times the size of Madagascar. And with that, this can be called the youngest continent in the world.
After many studies, scientists came to the conclusion that Zealand is an independent continent, defined by the type of stones found there, a feature of continental masses.
However, as these studies take a long time, some questions still need to be answered. Including the origin, the overall extent and nature submerged in the waters.
Unfortunately, such surveys require a great deal of time and money, according to Andy Tulloch, a geologist at the Crown Research Institute GNS Science in New Zealand. So scholars will have a long way to go to explore Zealand and its mysteries a little better.