Scientists Finally Mapped the Lost 'Atlantis' Continent

Scientists discovered something Atlantis-like near Australia. There used to be an entire continent that's now underwater. Here's what happened to it. Around 70,000 years ago, during the last ice age, there was a huge landmass called Sahul. It was located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. This ancient supercontinent connected what we now know as Australia, New Guinea, Tasmania, and the Aru Islands into one giant piece of land. Imagine lush tropical rainforests surrounded by beautiful mountains. Sahul's tallest mountains were in the New Guinea highlands, with peaks reaching over 13,000 feet. This beautiful place was home to a variety of unique animals, most of which were pouched creatures. But back then, they weren't just koalas and kangaroos. Sahul was filled with different types of grazers, burrowers, scavengers, and predators. It was home to a huge deprotodon, a powerful hunter thiosolio, and a horrifying megalania, a creature that's much larger than any living lizard today. It was a unique place because the rest of the world was filled with placental animals at the time, like wolves, elephants, and humans. In Sahul, the only normal mammals were bats and rodents. But not all its parts were the same. The Timor, Arafura, and Carpentaria regions were covered by hot savanna and dry forests. It looked kinda like modern Australia. Hot air deserts with scrubland, steppe, and temperate forests along the eastern coast. Back then, people were migrating all across the world. They made an incredible journey from Southeast Asia to Sahul and first arrived here from 60 to 45,000 years ago. They mostly traveled by foot and crossed the sea using bamboo rafts and simple boats. They came there from an ancient landmass called Sunda, which includes parts of Southeast Asia. They traveled across a series of islands known as Wallachia and eventually spread across Sahul. And it wasn't a small journey. Sahul was huge, around 4.1 million square miles. That's bigger than the USA or Canada. It stretched from the equator to around the southern part of New Zealand. So they arrived in what is now Australia and became Australia's first people. Scientists think that Sahul had a population of half a million. We've discovered cave paintings that date back around 40,000 years. It's a hunting scene depicting an anoa, or miniature buffalo, facing figures of humans and animals. Researchers are trying to figure out how these early settlers moved across Sahul and where we might find archaeological evidence of their journey. To do this, they created a landscape evolution model. The simulation showed how Sahul changed between 75,000 and 35,000 years ago. It showed potential migration routes and archaeological sites. Humans likely traveled along coastlines and rivers. But how did Sahul get submerged off the coast of Australia, similar to the mythical Atlantis? During the last ice age, much of the Earth's water was locked up in large ice sheets and glaciers. The sea levels were much lower than they are today. After that, the global temperatures increased. The ice sheets melted and the sea levels rose, flooding the land bridges that once connected different parts of Sahul together. About 8,000 years ago, New Guinea separated from mainland Australia. And then, about 6,000 years ago, Tasmania did the same. We still can explore the underwater parts of Sahul thanks to new technology. Divers explore and collect samples directly from the ocean floor. Underwater drones can go to places that are too deep or dangerous for humans to explore. And with sonar mapping, scientists use sound waves to create maps of the ocean floor. It's like using an echo to see what's underwater. The sound waves bounce off the seabed and come back, helping us create a picture of what it looks like. Deep underwater, archaeologists have found stone tools and other artifacts. They also discovered fossils of animals like Diprotodon and Thylassolio. By studying the underwater terrain of Sahul, they learned about the ancient rivers, lakes, and coastlines that existed during the Ice Age. But Sahul isn't the only underwater continent. Sahul isn't the only hidden gem of Southeast Asia. Take Sundaland, a place made up of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and some other islands. This place was crazy huge during the Ice Age, but now almost fully underwater. Almost, but not entirely. The parts above the ocean are teeming with life. If you like birds, check this place out. It has almost a fifth of the world's bird species. You can spot colorful birds like the Java Hawk Eagle and the Bali Starling among the lush forests. It's also a home to a fourth of Earth's fish species. Sundaland's waters are a haven for marine life. Even the most exotic animals like the Asian Arowanas. It's also a treasure trove of flowers. That's where you can find Rafflesia and Titan Arum, the world's largest flowers. This makes it very similar to Zealandia. Zealandia is a long, narrow piece of land about half the size of Australia. It broke from Antarctica about 100 million years ago. Just like Sundaland, it isn't fully underwater. 7% of it stayed above sea level. This sticking out little piece is what we now call New Zealand, along with Stewart Island and some smaller islands. These pieces of Zealandia are lush and warm. They're packed with volcanoes, mountain ranges, beautiful natural geysers, and hot springs. Local people, Maori, use these hot springs for cooking. People place corn, eggs, and vegetables in baskets and lower them directly in the hot springs. Sometimes they cook food in a pit oven using heated rocks. Another hidden world is known as Argo Land. This mysterious landmass was once part of Australia, back when dinosaurs chilled around. It drove scientists crazy for decades. They knew it existed because it left a huge stretch on the ancient seafloor, the Argo Abyssal Plain. About 155 million years ago, it broke off from Australia, saying bye-bye. The continent drifted somewhere north, and when it reached Southeast Asia, it just vanished. Scientists had no idea where it went, but recently, they finally found its remains. Turns out, poor Argo Land's lower parts started drowning into the Sunda Trench, a horrifyingly deep oceanic pit. The earth's crust sunk into the Meanwhile, the upper parts of Argo Land were pushed upward, grabbing the younger rocks on land. Because of this, Argo Land broke apart into a bunch of smaller pieces. These pieces formed parts of Borneo, Java, Sulawesi, and other regions. The remains are buried under Indonesia and Myanmar. Imagine a colossal landmass the size of Greenland, Greater Adria. Its journey began about 240 million years ago, when it broke away from supercontinent Gondwana. It started moving north, and after 100 million years of enjoying the warm seas, it suddenly crashed into Europe and shattered into pieces. Most of these pieces went deep into the earth's mantle, but some were scraped off and became part of mountain ranges like the Alps. Today, the remnants of Greater Adria are scattered across more than 30 countries, from Spain to Iran. That's why they're hard to look for. Seychelles was also once part of Gondwana. Yep, these idyllic islands are sitting atop of the ancient continent. We know a lot about it because of its fascinating granite outcrops. A hundred years ago, Alfred Wegener discovered continental drift, but no one believed him. These granite outcrops helped him prove that he's not crazy and that tectonic plates really are moving. The Seychelles broke off from India and Madagascar and eventually became a sad loner in the Indian Ocean. This probably happened because of some insanely active volcanoes in the Deccan Traps. But now, the islands are home to unique species both on land and in the coral reefs nearby. Mauritia broke off from India after the dinosaur wiping. Along its journey, it stretched into a long ribbon-like shape and also broke into pieces. Now, it's all scattered beneath the Indian Ocean. Scientists stumbled upon this lost land by studying tiny ancient crystals called zircons. These zircons are like time capsules. They date back an astonishing 660 million to 2 billion years. That's even older than Mauritius itself. These ancient crystals hinted that there's another Atlantis somewhere nearby. Turns out, there are hidden continents all around the world, and maybe we'll discover more of them in the future!