We've lost a planet in Pluto, but we've gained a continent in Zealandia.
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/16/travel/zealandia-new-continent-discovered/index.html
God damn liberals and their special snowflake mentality thinkin they can get things for free.
No, but really, cool muchacho.
Some background on how the continent was discovered, and its implications beyond being an interesting science story: "Earth's newest continent 'Zealandia' was found thanks to a giant underwater land grab" |
Business Insider (http://www.businessinsider.com/zealandia-sea-law-oil-mineral-industry-discovery-2017-2)
Quote(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic5.businessinsider.com%2Fimage%2F58a4840401fe586a018b4955-800&hash=5df2e59ef80a8271a6129bb9da3bbcf5669de755)
The new continent of Zealandia is shown at bottom center (in gray).
Image Credit: N. Mortimer et al./GSA Today
By now you've probably seen the big geology news: Earth has a brand-new continent called Zealandia, and it's been hiding from us for ages.
What's less widely known about the discovery, however, is how it came about — and what it means for we humans who live on top of the rocks.
Zealandia, which spans roughly 4.9 million square kilometers (1.9 million square miles) and is about 95% underwater, was a revelation more than a half-century in the making. And like many geologic discoveries, it began with the human drive to mine natural resources.
"Calling Zealandia a continent is more of a formality and mostly a scientific interest," said study co-author Vaughan Stagpoole, a geophysicist and head of the marine geoscience department at GNS Science, a New Zealand-funded research institute.
"In terms of the economic benefits" like minerals, oil, and gas, he said, "that was established a while ago."
And yet New Zealand and New Caledonia, a French territory, are only just beginning to establish what's down there other than a lot of continental crust; Stagpoole says it's a vast, mostly unexplored, and "extreme frontier" — one that could hide untold riches.
[Continues . . . (http://www.businessinsider.com/zealandia-sea-law-oil-mineral-industry-discovery-2017-2)]