According to a new theory proposed by an international team of geophysicists and geologists, Iceland may be the last exposed remains of a continent - roughly the size of Texas - called the continent of Icelandia, which sank under the North Atlantic Ocean about 10 million years ago.

The new theory was put forward by Gillian Folger, Emeritus Professor of Geophysics at Durham University, in a chapter of a recent book by the Geological Society of America called “In the Footsteps of Warren B. Hamilton: New Ideas in the Earth Sciences” (Footsteps of Warren). B. Hamilton: New Ideas in Earth Science).

And if geological studies can prove this theory, the consequences of validating the existence of the lost continent will have a profound impact on the ownership of fossil fuels under the sea floor, which, under international law, belongs to the country that extends on the continental shelf laden with fuel.

Iceland stretched between Greenland and Scandinavia for 10 million years (Diego Delso - Wikimedia Commons)

Greater Iceland

In a report published on Live Science on July 29, Gillian explained that it is possible that the continent of "Icelandia" stretched between Greenland and Scandinavia over the past 10 million years, while forming another submerged area now. Western Britain and Ireland are part of Greater Iceland.

"Over time, parts of it in the west and east have sunk under the water's surface, and if the sea level drops by 600 metres, we will be able to see more land above the ocean surface," she added.

Although it contradicts old ideas about the formation of Iceland and the North Atlantic, the researchers assert that the new theory explains all the geological features of the ocean floor and the reason behind the thicker than normal crust beneath Iceland.

The lost continent

Geologists have long believed that the North Atlantic basin was formed when the supercontinent Pangaea began to collapse 200 million years ago, and that Iceland formed about 60 million years ago on a volcanic plume near the middle of the ocean.

However, Folger and her team support a different theory, that as the supercontinent disintegrated, oceans began to appear south and north of Iceland, not west and east.

and that the areas to the west and east remained connected to what is now Greenland and Scandinavia.

Scientists believe, according to the official statement published on the Eurek Alert website, that this theory explains the reason behind the thickness of the crustal rocks under modern Iceland - which is estimated at 40 km instead of 8 km - which was expected if Iceland was formed above volcanic column.

Thus the researchers realized that the continental area was much larger than Iceland itself, and therefore there must be a continent hidden there under the sea.

Iceland spans more than 600,000 square kilometers of dry land between Greenland and Scandinavia (Gillian Folger - Google Maps)

Continental shelf

Folger and her colleagues estimated that Iceland once spanned more than 600,000 square kilometers of dry land between Greenland and Scandinavia, an area slightly smaller than Texas.

They suggested the existence of an adjacent area of ​​similar size to the one that sank beneath the waves, representing "Greater Iceland", to the west of what is now Britain and Ireland.

Fossil evidence has shown that some plants are identical in both Greenland and Scandinavia.

An outcome that reinforces the idea of ​​a broad strip of dry land that used to connect the two regions.

However, researchers have not been able to find fossil evidence of animals on the lost continent.

Finally, it can be said that the concept of the new theory of Iceland contradicts the prevailing theories of the formation of the North Atlantic region, which has led many prominent geologists and geophysicists to reject and radically oppose this idea.