Scientists Found Evidence Of A Long-Lost Continent Under The Indian Ocean

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Scientists have discovered evidence of a long-lost continent that was positioned between India and Madagascar. The revelation came forward after some sections of the Indian Ocean showed areas of strong gravitational fields and thicker crusts, an indication that a continent was there.

The evidence was found by scientists who were working on Mauritius, an island scientists believe is sitting on the lost continent. Through their research, they believe that the continent nestled between Madagascar and India started to break away 200 million years ago. This caused what we know as the Indian Ocean to appear today.

Although research only proves Mauritius is 8 million years old, they found micron crystals that may signal the area is almost 2 billion years old. Lewis Ashwal, one of the Mauritius researchers, said the research shoots down a theory that the minerals could have been blown over to the area:

“The fact that we have found zircons of this age proves that there are much older crustal materials under Mauritius that could only have originated from a continent …. The fact that we found the ancient zircons in rock (6-million-year-old trachyte), corroborates the previous study and refutes any suggestion of wind-blown, wave-transported or pumice-rafted zircons for explaining the earlier results.”

He went on to say this new evidence could help give insight into the area’s geological past. And who knows, maybe this will prompt the greenlighting of some action movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

(Via New Scientist, Phys.org & Science Alert)

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