Scientists at the Royal New Zealand Institute of Science and Technology have completed a complete map of the sunken seventh continent.
New Zealand scientist Nick Mortimer has completed a map of the sunken continent of New Zealand, which appeared on Earth 80 million years ago. The study was published in this regard on the website of the American Geophysical Union.
It is noteworthy that scientists presented the first reports about the existence of an unknown continent several years ago, and then researchers came to the conclusion that the sunken continent is located in the southwestern part of the Pacific Ocean. Its approximate area is estimated at about 5 million square kilometers.
Scientists believe that New Zealand was then part of the supercontinent Gondwana, which included Africa, Antarctica, South America and Australia. About 80 million years ago, several parts of the huge continent separated, including Antarctica, Australia, and its separate eastern part, the continent of Zealand.
Contemporary New Zealand is only a small part of that continent, of which today 95% of its land lies under water.
Scientists worked over several years to collect detailed information about the topography of the sunken continent to complete geological mapping of Zealandia's area of 5 million square kilometers. It turns out that there are mountains, plains, depressions and plateaus on the surface of the continent.
Discover the secret of the reliability of Mayan water tanks
Artificial water reservoirs created by the Maya can serve as a model for the development of modern water supply systems, thanks to the use of plants that reliably filter and purify water.
PNAS magazine indicates that scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign were able to discover the mystery of the reliability of the Maya water tanks that were used more than a thousand years ago to provide drinking water to thousands and tens of thousands of people in cities during dry seasons that last five months, as well as during periods of drought. Long droughts.In addition, the water supply system, consisting of canals and dams, made it possible to practice agriculture on fertile soils in the absence of nearby natural bodies of water.
It became clear to the researchers that the Mayans were using quartz sand and zeolite, which were transported from distant places to large cities such as Tikal, to filter water. To prevent water stagnation, the Maya used aquatic plants that still grow in Central America, such as the pondweed, the sedge plant, and the dace plant. These plants reduce water turbidity and absorb nitrogen and phosphorus, which prevents algal blooms.
According to the researchers, Maya tanks, which used aquatic plants to filter and purify water, could serve as models for natural and sustainable water systems to meet the future water needs of modern societies.