Laia Alegret, the paleontologist at the University of Zaragoza who recently demonstrated that the impact of an asteroid had killed dinosaurs , has now yielded new data on the origin and formation of the seventh continent: Zealand. This continent is submerged under the waters of the Pacific, and from which only its highest mountains, New Zealand and New Caledonia, emerge.

As published by the scientific journal Geology , Zealand emerged from two tectonic events. It was first torn from Australia and Antarctica 80 million years ago and then shaped by the forces that initiated the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of ​​volcanoes and earthquakes that extends along the western coasts of North America and from the South, passing Alaska and Japan, and then through the western Pacific to New Zealand.

Alegret was the only Spanish scientist on the Pacific Ocean expedition aboard the Joides Resolution drilling vessel, in which she participated for two months, along with 31 other scientists, in 2017.

The paleontologist from Oscense is now in New Zealand to present the scientific results of the expedition, which have just been published by the aforementioned journal, and continue working.

He has contributed to the study of thousands of microfossils obtained in six perforations of the seabed of the new continent, with a submerged surface of about five million square kilometers.

"The results of these studies have changed what little was known about this hidden continent ," Laia Alegret explained, adding: "They have allowed us to know how it evolved as an independent continent, after separating from Australia and Antarctica 80 years ago. millions of years, how the depth of its seas changed over time, when it emerged and sank , conditioning the migrations of species, ocean currents and the global climate. "

Alegret explains that, in addition, "it has been possible to specify the movement of tectonic plates, which seems to be related to the formation of the Pacific Ring of Fire . These results provide information on climate change and fundamental geological processes, with implications for prevention of geological risks such as volcanism or earthquakes. "

Like a massive earthquake

In the study, led by Rupert Sutherland, researchers from 13 different countries have participated, which have found evidence that some regions of Zealand rose even above sea level between 50 and 35 million years, while other points were they sank in the deep waters and, later, the whole region sank at least a kilometer.

The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area of ​​volcanoes and earthquakes resulting from the geological process of subduction, which occurs when a tectonic plate sinks underground. Its formation 50 million years ago remains a mystery .

The article now published in Geology proposes that a subduction rupture event spread throughout the West Pacific in that period, and indicates that the process should have been similar to a massive super slow earthquake that resurrected ancient subduction failures, which had remained dormant for millions of years, but that began to move again.

"There is probably no current analogue of this process," the scientists point out, but evidence from Zealand suggests that these events can dramatically alter the geography of the continents. This same event created natural resources, affected the global climate and changed the direction and speed of movement of almost all the tectonic plates of the planet. "It really was an event of global importance ."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • science
  • Science and Health

Astrophysics New evidence suggests that the nearest star is home to a second planet

AstronomyG Objects: a strange new celestial body in our galaxy

Climate crisis The last five years has been the hottest for at least 140 years