Scientists have proposed to reduce the number of continents on Earth from 7 to 6: what is known

Scientists propose to reduce the number of continents on our planet. According to the researchers, North America and Europe should be classified as one continent.

In a new controversial study, experts say that the split between the European and North American continents continues. Therefore, it is worth counting 6, not 7 continents of the Earth, writes DailyMail.

Researchers from the University of Derby say that the breakup of the European and North American continents has not yet occurred, it is still ongoing, so it makes no sense to consider them separate continents.

"The discovery indicates that the tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia have not yet broken apart, as is traditionally believed. In fact, they are still stretching and are in the process of disintegrating," said study author Dr. Jordan Phethean.

The researchers focused on the formation of Iceland, which is located between the Greenland Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. Until now, Iceland was believed to have formed about 60 million years ago when the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, began to give way, creating a hot mantle plume that formed into a volcanic island.

However, a team of scientists has challenged this theory. By analyzing the movement of tectonic plates in Africa, the researchers suggest that Iceland and the Greenlandic Icelandic Faroe Ridge (GIFR) also contain fragments of lost and submerged fragments from both the European and North American continents.

Scientists call this newly recognized structure the "Rift Oceanic Magmatic Plateau," or ROMP for short. "I like to think of this concept as the scientific equivalent of finding the Lost City of Atlantis. These are fragments of a lost continent submerged under the sea and kilometers of thin lava flows. By studying the evolution of rifting in the Afra volcanic region in Africa and comparing it to the behavior of the Earth in Iceland, we see that these two regions are developing in very similar ways," Dr. Phethean explained.

If the researchers are right, it means that the split between the European and North American continents is still ongoing. From a scientific point of view, this would mean that North America and Europe can be classified as one continent rather than two.

Scientists plan to examine volcanic rocks in Iceland for more concrete evidence of ancient continental crust. They are also conducting tectonic modeling of the region's plates and will use computer simulations to try to model the formation of the ROMP.

Dr. Jordan Phethean raised the issue of the shrinking number of continents after participating in a study of a new "proto-microcontinent" hiding between Canada and Greenland that formed 60 million years ago.

"Rifting and microcontinent formation are ongoing phenomena. The discovery of the Davis Rift proto-microcontinent allows us to better understand the process of microcontinent formation and how plate tectonics works on Earth. It may also allow scientists to better predict where useful resources might be found. And what the Earth might look like in millions of years. And the new data will also allow us to understand how plate tectonics worked in the early history of the Earth and the role it could have played in the development of life," Phethean summarized.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!