Zealandia, a continent which is two-thirds bigger than Australia, is 94 percent submerged underwater. But its highest point can be located above the ocean surface of New Zealand and New Caledonia. For decades scientists have defined it as slivers and continent fragments and it's only now that they say it's a land mass that can be defined as a continent.

New Zealand Is A Tip?

This exciting news reveals that Zealandia is big, like 1.74 million square miles big, NBC News reported. It's definitely a beautiful, unchartered territory with dwelling creatures that are something out of myth.

Just how mythical? Picture this. The whales have beaks, the pigeons feed on the cabbage trees, and the peanut worms dwell on dark abysses, The Washington Post reported. Humans have dwelled there centuries ago but only on its greatest mountain peaks, which they fondly call New Zealand.

This only means that New Zealand is nothing but a tip of Zealandia. It's a significant small part of a greater whole. Zealandia exists but submerged in the Pacific Ocean.

Hidden Continent Is Earth's Longest Kept Secret?

Scientists are saying Zealandia could have been mapped as a continent had Earth been mapped the same way NASA mapped Mars and Venus. Scientists are saying that Zealandia is a wreckage of an ancient supercontinent, long before dinosaurs walked this Earth.

Zealandia broke away from Australia 80 million years ago, submerged under water and remained a hidden continent. It's part of the fragments of Gondwana - which is the disintegrated continent of Africa, Australia, South America, and Antarctica.

Naming it Zealandia entails that humans can better understand the earth we walk on, according to the scientists. It's unfortunate that there's no body of science that studies continents and it's up to us if we keep it a recognized continent. According to the scientists who have discovered it, it will take a decade more before Zealandia can be put in maps or atlases.

Topics New zealand, Australia