Growing up, most of us learned that Earth is home to seven continents.
But it may be time to rewrite the geography textbooks, as a controversial study now claims there are actually only six continents.
Researchers from the University of Derby say that the break-up of the European and North American continents is still ongoing.
Dr Jordan Phethean, an author of the study, said: ‘The discovery indicates that the North America and Eurasian tectonic plates have not yet actually broken apart, as is traditionally thought to have happened 52 million years ago.
‘They are, in fact, still stretching and in the process of breaking apart.’
Growing up, most of us learned that Earth is home to seven continents. But it may be time to rewrite the geography textbooks, as a controversial study now claims there are actually only six continents
The new study focused on the formation of Iceland, which is located between the Greenland Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean
The new study focused on the formation of Iceland, which is located between the Greenland Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean.
Until now, it was widely believed that Iceland formed around 60 million years ago when the mid-Atlantic ridge – the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates – started to give way, creating a hot mantle plume that formed into a volcanic island.
However, in their new study, the team challenged this theory.
By analysing the movement of the tectonic plates in Africa, the researchers now suggest that Iceland and the Greenland Iceland Faroes Ridge (GIFR) also contain pieces of lost and submerged fragments from both the European and North American continents.
They’re calling this newly-recognised feature a ‘Rifted Oceanic Magmatic Plateau’, or ROMP for short.
‘I like to think of this concept as the Earth Science equivalent of finding the Lost City of Atlantis; fragments of lost continent submerged beneath the sea and kilometres of thin lava flows,’ Dr Phethean explained.
‘By studying the evolution of rifting in the volcanic Afra region in Africa and comparing this to the behaviour of the Earth in Iceland, we are able to see that these two regions are evolving in very similar ways.’
Until now, it was widely believed that Iceland formed around 60 million years ago when the mid-Atlantic ridge – the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates – started to give way, creating a hot mantle plume that formed into a volcanic island
If the researchers are right, this means that the break-up of the European and North American continents is still ongoing.
Scientifically speaking, this would mean North America and Europe could be classed as one, and not two continents.
‘While it is controversial to suggest that the GIFR contains a large amount of continental crust within it, and that the European and North American tectonic plates have perhaps not yet officially broken up, our findings suggest this is the case,’ Dr Phethean added.
The findings are still conceptual, but the researchers now plan to explore the volcanic rocks in Iceland for more concrete evidence of ancient continental crust.
They are also undertaking plate tectonic modelling of the region, and will use computer simulations to try and model the ROMP formation.
The news comes shortly after Dr Phethean was part of a research team that discovered a new ‘proto-microcontinent’ hiding between Canada and Greenland, believed to have formed 60 million years ago.
The proto-microcontinent is 250-miles long – about the same size as England – and currently sits below the Davis Strait, which connects the Labrador Sea in the south with Baffin Bay to the north.
‘Rifting and microcontinent formation are an ongoing phenomena,’ said Dr Phethean.
‘The discovery of the Davis Straight proto-microcontinent allows us to better understand the process by which microcontinents form, which in turn tells us more about how plate tectonics operates on Earth.
‘This can allow scientists to better predict where useful resources might be found, how the Earth might look millions of years into the future, and how plate tectonics operated in Earth’s early history, as well as the role it might have played in the development of life.’
Gondwana was the Southern landmass formed from the break up of the supercontinent Pangaea
Only 70 years ago most scientists thought the Earth’s continents were fixed in position from the start of time.
As geologists studied the Earth’s rocks further and palaeontologists considered the locations of fossils a new theory gained popularity.
It argued that the Earth’s land masses have been engaged in a magnificent waltz across the planet’s history.
This dance continues today as the oceans, mountains and valleys continue to change as a consequence of the moving of the Earth’s tectonic plates.
The supercontinent Pangea began fragmenting around 250 million years ago, producing the Northern landmass known as Laurasia and the Southern landmass Gondwana.
Then, the massive landmass of Gondwana began to pull apart around 165 million years ago.
This process took a long time. One of the last areas to separate was Tasmania, Australia, from Antarctica around 45 million years ago.
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Publish date : 2024-08-04 23:52:00
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