In a paper published in the Geological Society of America’s Journal, GSA Today, they said Zealandia measured five million square kilometre (1.9 million square miles) and was 94 percent underwater. The paper’s authors said it had only three major landmasses, New Zealand’s North and South Islands to the south, and New Caledonia to the north. The scientists, mostly from the official New Zealand research body GNS Science, said Zealandia was once part of the Gondwana super-continent but broke away about 100 million years ago. “The scientific value of classifying Zealandia as a continent is much more than just an extra name on a list,” they wrote. While there is no scientific body that formally recognises continents, Mortimer said he wanted Zealandia to become an accepted part of how the Earth is viewed.

Source: Dhaka Tribune February 17, 2017 08:16 UTC