科学家在澳洲海岸附近发现世界第八大洲

Geologists claim to have discovered a new continent to the east of Australia: Zealandia. At 4.9 million square kilometres of land mass, 94 percent of which is under water, Zealandia would be the world's smallest continent. 地质学家声称，在澳洲以东发现了一块新大陆：西兰洲。西兰洲的陆地面积为490万平方公里，其中94%都浸没在水中，是世界上面积最小的大陆。 The 11 scientists behind the claim presented their findings in the study "Zealandia: Earth's Hidden Continent" in Geological Society of America, making a case for Zealandia to be recognised as the world's eighth continent in its own right. 提出新大陆说法的11位科学家在美国地质学会上发表了这一研究报告：《西兰洲：地球上隐藏的大陆》，他们请求将西兰洲认定为世界第八大洲。 According to their study, the land mass comprises all the four attributes needed to be considered a continent, including the presence of different rock types and crucially "the high elevation relative to regions floored by oceanic crust." 根据他们的研究，这块陆地具备了成为大洲所需的四个要素，包括岩石类型多样化，关键在于它“相比那些基于海洋地壳的地区海拔要高”。