By: Talat Mohsin
The researchers of the Utrecht University of Netherlands have discovered a new continent on the earth. The continent has been discovered to be hidden in the Mediterranean region.
The researchers came to this conclusion after analyzing all the mountain ranges from Spain to Iran over a period of ten years. The continent lies about nearly 1500 kilometers under Europe and stretches for about 30 countries. The study was published recently in “Gondwana Research”.
They found that over 200 million years ago, shifting continental plates had caused a continent to break from northern Africa. This continent has been named Great Adria. This shift created a huge ocean. The only remains of this ocean now are the Ionian sea and the eastern Mediterranean sea between Libya and Turkey.
Greater Adria then got pushed under southern Europe, giving rise to the mountains of the region. It also has a hand in the creation of Greece and Turkey. The last remains of the continent are in the Adriatic sea.
The researchers used software known as GPlates to analyze their theory. The software analyzed data which revealed motions between rock units. The researchers also studied the magnetic strips on the ocean floor, fault motions and magnetic fields stored within rocks themselves to come to the conclusion.