Not seven but six continents are present on Earth, claims a shocking study. Here's how

New Delhi, India

Humans across the world have been taught that there are seven continents on Earth, namely, Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. However, this integral part of our geography now seems to be botched up as researchers in a new study have made a shocking claim that there are six and not seven continents on Earth.

The University of Derby's researchers said that the continents of North America and Europe have not broken up and the process is still ongoing.

The study's author Dr Jordan Phethean said: "The discovery indicates that the North America and Eurasian tectonic plates have not yet actually broken apart, as is traditionally thought to have happened 52 million years ago. They are, in fact, still stretching and in the process of breaking apart."

Also Read: Moon is going far away from the Earth. Will it disappear soon from night sky?

The new study looked into the formation of Iceland, which is situated between the Greenland Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean.

Till now, it was known that Iceland was formed nearly 60 million years ago when the mid-Atlantic ridge – which is the boundary between Eurasian and the North American tectonic plates - started to fall apart and led to the creation of a hot mantle plume that turned into a volcanic island.

In the new study, the team found evidence which challenged this theory.

North America and Europe are one continent and not two: study

The researchers analysed the tectonic plates' movement in Africa and suggested that Iceland and the Greenland Iceland Faroes Ridge (GIFR) have pieces of lost and submerged fragments which belong to both the North American and European continents.

This newly-recognised feature is known as a "Rifted Oceanic Magmatic Plateau" (ROMP) for short.

"I like to think of this concept as the Earth Science equivalent of finding the Lost City of Atlantis; fragments of lost continent submerged beneath the sea and kilometres of thin lava flows," said Dr Phethean.

Watch: Earth slows down by 1.33 milliseconds

"By studying the evolution of rifting in the volcanic Afra region in Africa and comparing this to the behaviour of the Earth in Iceland, we are able to see that these two regions are evolving in very similar ways," he added. 

So, if the study is right it means that the European and North American continents are still breaking up and scientifically, they should be classed as one continent and not two continents. 

"While it is controversial to suggest that the GIFR contains a large amount of continental crust within it, and that the European and North American tectonic plates have perhaps not yet officially broken up, our findings suggest this is the case," explained Dr Phethean.

(With inputs from agencies)