RESEARCHERS have uncovered more information about a huge piece of submerged land off the coast of Australia.
The sunken landmass has been detailed in a new study that could provide insight into early human migration.
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This “lost Atlantis” has been submerged for over 70,000 years, according to research published in Quaternary Science Reviews.
Now, thanks to sonar technology, scientists have been able to map the vast piece of land.
“We’re talking about a landscape that’s quite submerged, over 100 meters [330 feet] below sea level today,” Kasih Norman, an archeologist at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, and lead author on the new study, told Live Science.
The research reveals that the now-underwater territory that once connected present-day Kimberley and Arnhem Land.
Dubbed Sahul, this ancient land bridge comprised not only Australia but also New Guinea and Tasmania.
Researchers also believe Sahul once supported a thriving population of up to half a million people.
Until recently, the sunken landmass was largely ignored, despite its impressive size.
“There’s been an underlying assumption in Australia that our continental margins were probably unproductive and weren’t really used by people, despite the fact that we have evidence from many parts of the world that people were definitely out on these continental shelves in the past,” Norman said.
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The new study shows impressive data on sea levels between 70,000 and 9,000 years ago.
For example, in the period between 71,000 and 59,000 years ago, sea levels were around 130 feet lower than they are today.
This dip suggests “a curving necklace of islands at the Australian continent’s outer northwestern edge,” Live Science writes.
And between 29,000 and 14,000 years ago, there was another dip in sea levels, which revealed the landmass.
“We’re really looking at a landmass that was about 1.6 times the size of the UK,” Norman said.
Her research further features meticulous maps of seafloor features from the submerged continent.
