Kids are frequently taught that seven continents exist: Africa, Asia, Antarctica, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.

孩子们经常被教导世界存在7大洲：非洲、亚洲、南极洲、大洋洲、欧洲、北美洲和南美洲。

Geologists¹, who look at the rocks (and tend to ignore the humans), group Europe and Asia into a supercontinent — Eurasia — making for a total of six geologic² continents.

地质学家们通过观察岩石（往往忽略了人类），将欧洲和亚洲统称为“欧亚大陆”，这样一来全球存在的地质板块一共就有6个了。

But according to a new study of Earth's crust, there's a seventh geologic continent called "Zealandia," and it has been hiding under our figurative noses for millennia³.

但是根据对地壳的一项最新研究显示，地球上存在着第七个地质板块，名叫“西兰蒂亚”，几千年来它一直就藏在我们眼皮子底下。

The 11 researchers behind the study say that New Zealand and New Caledonia aren't merely island chains. Instead, they're both part of a single, 4.9 million-square-kilometer (1.89 million-square-mile) slab⁴ of continental⁵ crust that's distinct from Australia.

据参与该项研究的11名研究人员表示，新西兰和新喀里多尼亚不仅仅只是岛屿链。它们是一个和大洋洲分离的、面积达490万平方公里（约合189万平方英里）的大陆板块的一部分。

"This is not a sudden discovery, but a gradual realization⁶; as recently as 10 years ago we would not have had the accumulated data or confidence in interpretation⁷ to write this paper," the researchers wrote in GSA Today, a journal of the Geological Society of America.

研究人员们在美国地质协会杂志《GSA Today》上写道：“这并不是一个突然的发现，而是一个渐进的过程。10年前我们没有积累到这么多数据，所以没有信心写这篇论文。”

Ten of the researchers work for institutions within the new continent; one works for a university in Australia.

在全部研究人员中，有10个人在这块新大陆内的机构工作，另外一人则在澳大利亚某大学任职。

But other geologists are almost certain to accept the team's continent-sized conclusions, says Bruce Luyendyk, a geophysicist at the University of California at Santa Barbara, who wasn't involved in the study.

但是据加州大学圣芭芭拉分校的地球物理学家布鲁斯·陆元迪克（他并没有参与这项研究）表示，其他地质学家几乎肯定会接受该结论。

"These people here are A-list earth scientists," Luyendyk told Business Insider. "I think they've put together a solid collection of evidence that's really thorough. I don't see that there's going to be a lot of pushback, except maybe around the edges."

布鲁斯向《Business Insider》透露：“参与这项研究的人都是一流的地球科学家。我认为他们确实收集了大量的证据。我不认为这项结论会受到太大的阻力，除了板块的边界可能有点问题。”