00:00Scientists discovered something Atlantis-like near Australia.
00:06There used to be an entire continent that's now underwater.
00:09Here's what happened to it.
00:13Around 70,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age, there was a huge landmass called Sahul.
00:19It was located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
00:22This ancient supercontinent connected what we now know as Australia, New Guinea, Tasmania,
00:27and the Aru Islands into one giant piece of land.
00:31Imagine lush tropical rainforests surrounded by beautiful mountains.
00:35Sahul's tallest mountains were in the New Guinea Highlands, with peaks reaching over
00:4013,000 feet.
00:43This beautiful place was home to a variety of unique animals, most of which were pouched
00:48creatures.
00:49But back then, they weren't just koalas and kangaroos.
00:53Sahul was filled with different types of grazers, burrowers, scavengers, and predators.
00:58It was home to a huge Diprotodon, a powerful hunter Thiasolio, and a horrifying Megalania,
01:05a creature that's much larger than any living lizard today.
01:09It was a unique place because the rest of the world was filled with placental animals
01:13at the time, like wolves, elephants, and humans.
01:16In Sahul, the only normal mammals were bats and rodents.
01:21But not all its parts were the same.
01:23The Timor, Arafura, and Carpentaria regions were covered by hot savanna and dry forests.
01:30It looked kinda like modern Australia.
01:33Hot air deserts with scrubland, steppe, and temperate forests along the eastern coast.
01:41Back then, people were migrating all across the world.
01:45They made an incredible journey from Southeast Asia to Sahul and first arrived here from
01:4960,000 to 45,000 years ago.
01:52They mostly traveled by foot and crossed the sea using bamboo rafts and simple boats.
01:58They came there from an ancient landmass called Sunda, which includes parts of Southeast Asia.
02:04They traveled across a series of islands known as Walasia and eventually spread across Sahul.
02:11And it wasn't a small journey.
02:13Sahul was huge, around 4.1 million square miles.
02:17It's bigger than the USA or Canada.
02:19It stretched from the equator to around the southern part of New Zealand.
02:24So they arrived in what is now Australia and became Australia's first people.
02:30Scientists think that Sahul had a population of half a million.
02:34We've discovered cave paintings that date back around 40,000 years.
02:38It's a hunting scene depicting an anoa, or miniature buffalo, facing figures of humans
02:44and animals.
02:46Researchers are trying to figure out how these early settlers moved across Sahul and where
02:50we might find archaeological evidence of their journey.
02:54To do this, they created a landscape evolution model.
02:58The simulation showed how Sahul changed between 75,000 and 35,000 years ago.
03:04It showed potential migration routes and archaeological sites.
03:09Humans likely traveled along coastlines and rivers.
03:14But how did Sahul get submerged off the coast of Australia, similar to the mythical Atlantis?
03:20During the last ice age, much of the Earth's water was locked up in large ice sheets and
03:25glaciers.
03:26The sea levels were much lower than they are today.
03:29After that, the global temperatures increased.
03:32The ice sheets melted and the sea levels rose, flooding the land bridges that once connected
03:37different parts of Sahul together.
03:39About 8,000 years ago, New Guinea separated from mainland Australia.
03:44And then, about 6,000 years ago, Tasmania did the same.
03:48We still can explore the underwater parts of Sahul thanks to new technology.
03:54Divers explore and collect samples directly from the ocean floor.
03:59Underwater drones can go to places that are too deep or dangerous for humans to explore.
04:04And with sonar mapping, scientists use sound waves to create maps of the ocean floor.
04:10It's like using an echo to see what's underwater.
04:13The sound waves bounce off the seabed and come back, helping us create a picture of
04:18what it looks like.
04:20Deep underwater, archaeologists have found stone tools and other artifacts.
04:24They also discovered fossils of animals like Diprotodon and Thylassolio.
04:30By studying the underwater terrain of Sahul, they learned about the ancient rivers, lakes,
04:35and coastlines that existed during the Ice Age.
04:38But Sahul isn't the only underwater continent.
04:45Sahul isn't the only hidden gem of Southeast Asia.
04:48Take Sundaland, a place made up of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and some other islands.
04:54This place was crazy huge during the Ice Age, but now almost fully underwater.
05:00Almost, but not entirely.
05:02The parts above the ocean are teeming with life.
05:06If you like birds, check this place out.
05:08It has almost a fifth of the world's bird species.
05:12You can spot colorful birds like the Java Hawk Eagle and the Bali Starling among the
05:17lush forests.
05:18It's also a home to a fourth of Earth's fish species.
05:22Sundaland's waters are a haven for marine life.
05:25Even the most exotic animals like the Asian Arowanas.
05:30It's also a treasure trove of flowers.
05:33That's where you can find Rafflesia and Titan Arum, the world's largest flowers.
05:39This makes it very similar to Zealandia.
05:41Zealandia is a long, narrow piece of land about half the size of Australia.
05:46It broke from Antarctica about 100 million years ago.
05:50Just like Sundaland, it isn't fully underwater.
05:53Seven percent of it stayed above sea level.
05:56This sticking out little piece is what we now call New Zealand, along with Stewart Island
06:02and some smaller islands.
06:04These pieces of Zealandia are lush and warm.
06:08They're packed with volcanoes, mountain ranges, beautiful natural geysers, and hot springs.
06:14Local people, Maori, use these hot springs for cooking.
06:18People place corn, eggs, and vegetables in baskets and lower them directly in the hot
06:23springs.
06:24Sometimes they cook food in a pit oven using heated rocks.
06:31Another hidden world is known as Argo Land.
06:34This mysterious landmass was once part of Australia, back when dinosaurs chilled around.
06:40It drove scientists crazy for decades.
06:42They knew it existed because it left a huge stretch on the ancient seafloor.
06:47The Argo Abyssal Plain.
06:50About 155 million years ago, it broke off from Australia, saying bye-bye.
06:56The continent drifted somewhere north, and when it reached Southeast Asia, it just vanished.
07:03Scientists had no idea where it went, but recently, they finally found its remains.
07:08Turns out, poor Argo Land's lower parts started drowning into the Sunda Trench, a horrifyingly
07:14deep oceanic pit.
07:16The earth's crust sunk into the mantle.
07:19Meanwhile, the upper parts of Argo Land were pushed upward, grabbing the younger rocks
07:23on land.
07:25Because of this, Argo Land broke apart into a bunch of smaller pieces.
07:29These pieces formed parts of Borneo, Java, Sulawesi, and other regions.
07:34The remains are buried under Indonesia and Myanmar.
07:40Imagine a colossal landmass the size of Greenland, Greater Adria.
07:46Its journey began about 240 million years ago when it broke away from the supercontinent
07:51Gondwana.
07:53It started moving north, and after 100 million years of enjoying the warm seas, it suddenly
07:58crashed into Europe and shattered into pieces.
08:02Most of these pieces went deep into the earth's mantle, but some were scraped off and became
08:08part of mountain ranges like the Alps.
08:11Today, the remnants of Greater Adria are scattered across more than 30 countries, from Spain
08:16to Iran.
08:17That's why they're hard to look for.
08:22Seychelles was also once part of Gondwana.
08:25Yep, these idyllic islands are sitting atop of the ancient continent.
08:29We know a lot about it because of its fascinating granite outcrops.
08:34A hundred years ago, Alfred Wegener discovered continental drift, but no one believed him.
08:40These granite outcrops helped him prove that he's not crazy and that tectonic plates really
08:44are moving.
08:46The Seychelles broke off from India and Madagascar and eventually became a sad loner in the Indian
08:52Ocean.
08:53This probably happened because of some insanely active volcanoes in the Deccan Traps.
08:58But now the islands are home to unique species both on land and in the coral reefs nearby.
09:08Mauritia broke off from India after the dinosaur wiping.
09:12Along its journey, it stretched into a long ribbon-like shape and also broke into pieces.
09:17Now it's all scattered beneath the Indian Ocean.
09:21Scientists stumbled upon this lost land by studying tiny ancient crystals called zircons.
09:27These zircons are like time capsules.
09:30They date back an astonishing 660 million to 2 billion years.
09:35That's even older than Mauritius itself!
09:38These ancient crystals hinted that there's another Atlantis somewhere nearby.
09:43Turns out there are hidden continents all around the world, and maybe we'll discover
09:48more of them in the future!
Comments