Submerged Zealandia

When we look at a globe, we see seven distinct landmasses. But geography holds a massive, hidden secret. Just beneath the turbulent waves of the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the islands of New Zealand and New Caledonia, lies an enormous, fully recognized eighth continent, 94 percent of which is completely submerged. Submerged Zealandia tells the thrilling scientific detective story of how geologists spent decades proving the existence of a landmass half the size of Australia. This wasn't a mythological Atlantis, but a massive chunk of continental crust that violently broke away from the supercontinent Gondwana and slowly sank beneath the sea over millions of years. The book details the extreme challenges of deep-sea bathymetry and satellite gravity mapping required to chart this invisible world. It uncovers what Zealandia's fossilized drowned valleys and submerged mountain ranges tell us about the earth's violent tectonic history and the ancient flora and fauna that once thrived there. Expand your understanding of the planet you live on. This geological expedition proves that the map of the world is far from finished, and that entire continents can still be hiding right beneath our feet.