Photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Gulf Today Report

A team of scientists has found a sunken continent under Iceland, which they called "Icelandia," and its area is expected to extend from Greenland to Europe, according to a recent study by the British University of Durham.

Geologists believe that Iceland covers an area of about 600,000 square kilometres, but when the neighbouring regions west of Britain are included, its area will exceed one million square kilometres, which is larger than the area of Australia.

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Scientists believe that the semi-aquatic land could extend from Greenland along the road to Europe.

If their theory is correct, this means that the continent of Pangea, which existed 360 million years ago, before the current problem of continents separated, did not completely disintegrate.

The latest discovery changes many old theories about the oceanic and continental plates of the Atlantic region, and how volcanic islands, such as Iceland, were formed.

The latest discovery is expected to spark new discussions about another source of minerals and hydrocarbons, both of which are found in the continental crust.

The study, led by Professor Gillian Folger, a geophysicist at Durham University, said, “So far, Iceland has baffled geologists, because current theories suggesting that it is built from and surrounded by oceanic crust are not supported by geological data.”

For example, the crust under Iceland is more than 40 kilometers thick — seven times the thickness of normal oceanic crust.

This is simply inexplicable. However, when we considered the possibility that this crust might be continental, our data suddenly made sense. This led us to realise that the continental area was much larger than Iceland itself — there is a continent hidden under the sea.”

She continued, "There is wonderful work to be done to prove the existence of 'Icelandia,' but it also opens a new perspective for our geological understanding. Something similar can happen in many places.

“We can eventually see maps of our oceans and seas being redrawn as our understanding of what lies underground changes.”

Research may include electrical conductivity surveys, and zircon crystal collections in Iceland and elsewhere. Other tests such as seismic profiling and drilling require millions of pounds to fund.