
South Pacific landmass may have been closer to land level than once thought - jansho
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/27/zealandia-drilling-reveals-secrets-of-sunken-lost-continent
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ChuckMcM
I enjoy (as humor) the articles where this is discussed as a plot by New
Zealand to be declared a continent. I imagine if there were people from Pluto
living among us they would be telling us how planet like Pluto is :-)

But humor aside, where do you draw the line? Nearly all of the Mojave desert
in the US was clearly a sea floor based on the fossils found in its sandstone
rocks. But we're not going to call it an ocean. It _was_ an ocean, and then
things moved around and now it _is_ a desert. Zealandia _was_ a continent but
now its the seafloor around an island.

Lets say we call it a continent, does it suddenly make it all the territory of
the government of New Zealand? Does that mean they control fishing and mineral
rights for hundreds of kilometers beyond the shores of their island? Where
does that lead?

~~~
seszett
> _Lets say we call it a continent, does it suddenly make it all the territory
> of the government of New Zealand? Does that mean they control fishing and
> mineral rights for hundreds of kilometers beyond the shores of their
> island?_

Probably, yes. France extended its EEZ last year with new evidence that the
land around Kerguelen island forms an underwater "continent" as well. I
imagine if this finding about Zealandia gets confirmed, both New Zealand and
France (from New Caledonia) will want to extend their EEZ there as well.

~~~
rgbrenner
More on france's extension of it's eez:
[https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=536dc880-b89b...](https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=536dc880-b89b-4fbe-
bff1-72dc1c46e2c8)

Note, the extension is from 200mi (the eez) up to 350mi -- so NZ wouldn't get
the entire continental area.. and in that extended area, they only get
exclusive rights to the soil and subsoil (so things like oil, etc... but no
exclusive fishing rights).

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leggomylibro
How cool - it's also interesting that there are a handful of massive undersea
plateaus marked on one of the articles' maps.

I wonder if it'd be possible to build a sealab on one of them; it looks like
there are often small atolls nearby, and it could be a good environment for
testing concepts related to building and maintaining livable underwater
environments.

~~~
maxerickson
Have you read about the US research projects?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEALAB](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEALAB)

Things quickly get challenging with depth.

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contingencies
Isn't it funny that an American journal publishes an article with Australian
scientists about a continent they term Zealandia after New Zealand in turn
named after a place in Holland where much of the landmass and water is
currently controlled by France?

I have pity on the Chinese national geographic toponym bureau for having the
tedious task of translating this for national linguistic unity.

Truly, we dwell in a post-national mire of bureaucrats! We need more solid
continents!

~~~
seszett
Hmm... I don't think France controls Zeeland in Europe though. Maybe Belgium
instead.

But France is still in the picture since New Caledonia also sits on the
plateau of Zealandia... New Caledonia itself named after Scotland!

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irrational
First we lose a planet, now we gain a continent. Is nothing I learned in
Elementary school sacred?

~~~
saalweachter
Sharing is important.

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BartSaM
What are the chances that this extends to Australia and is actually a part of
Australia?

~~~
ssully
From the article: "(Zealandia)... is believed to have separated from
Australlia and Antarctica, as part of Gondwana, about 80m years ago."

~~~
vorg
That makes Australia, Zealandia, and Antarctica be one continent. Since all
three names are 4 syllables long, with the stress on the second, in English,
perhaps it should be called Stralantarc.

~~~
peterburkimsher
Arclanstra?

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foota
Pretty crazy to me to think of continents as floating

~~~
gus_massa
Continents are made of light rock floating over heavy rocks. So they are
floating, like ice cubes in a glass full of jelly. But continents are not
floating over water.

In this case, the light rocks are no vey tick, so the thin layer of water that
we call ocean can cover them. I like this image:
[https://goo.gl/images/aqCBJL](https://goo.gl/images/aqCBJL)

