'Icelandia': Scientists Believe They Have Identified a Sunken Continent Hidden Under Iceland

Academics are convinced they have recognized a notable geological secret - a sunken continent concealed underneath Iceland and the nearby ocean, which they have named "Icelandia."

Sunken Continent

An international team of geologists, that was headed by an Emeritus Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Earth Sciences at Durham University (UK), Gillian Foulger, is convinced the sunken continent could extend from Greenland getting to Europe.

This sunken continent is believed to envelop a region of approximately 600,000 km2 but when connecting regions west of Britain are added to a "Greater Icelandia," there is a possibility the whole area will be approximately 1,000,000 km2 in size.

If this is confirmed, it implies that the giant supercontinent of Pangaea, which is believed to have split up more than 50 million years ago, has in fact not completely broken up.

This new theory places a challenge to the scientific ideas that has been held for a long time around the extent of oceanic and continental crust in the North Atlantic area, and how the formation of volcanic islands, like Iceland, happened.

The New Theory

The presence of continental - instead of oceanic - crust could also brings up discussions concerning a new source of minerals and hydrocarbons, both of which are found in the continental crust.

The revolutionary new theory was originated from an innovative series of expert conferences that took place in Durham and is added to a dedicated chapter of In the Footsteps of Warren B. Hamilton: New Ideas in Earth Science (released 29th of June 2021 by the Geological Society of America), which Professor Foulger wrote together with Professor Laurent Geoffroy of the Ocean Geosciences Laboratory, University of Brest in France, and Dr. Laurent Gernigon of the Geological Survey of Norway.

Taking about the new theory, Professor Foulger said that till now Iceland has confused geologists, as the believed-theories that it is made of and surrounded by oceanic crust are not backed by multiple geological data. For instance, the crust located underneath Iceland is more than 40 km thick - seven times denser than typical oceanic crust. An explanation of this could not be given.

Testing the Theory

However, when the possibility of this thick crust being continental has been considered, the data gotten by the scientists suddenly made sense. This made the scientists immediately realize that the continental part was much larger than Iceland itself - there is a concealed continent right there beneath the sea.

There is fantastic work to be carried out so that the existence of Icelandia will be proven but it also brings up an entirely different view of scientist's geological understanding of the world. Similar things could be occurring at many more locations.

Presently, the research team is working with collaborators from all over the globe on work to put their theory to test, which will kick off once the restrictions of COVID-19 permit.

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