07-Oct-2021 Theme: 'Continent'

(1) The Australian continent is moving slowly north - by about how much every year?

Answer: Seven centimetres.

(2) What University of Tasmania Professor of Geology, who died in 2002, championed the theory of continental drift in the 1950s, and played a large part in it being accepted by the world scientific community?

Answer: Professor Sam Carey.

(3) About how long ago did Australia fully separate from Antarctica?

Answer: 30 million years.

(4) Speaking at the first National Australasian Convention, held in Sydney in 1891, who urged that Australia should be “a nation for a continent and a continent for a nation”.

Answer: Edmund Barton.

(5) According to some geologists, the world has an unrecognised 8th continent, roughly two thirds the size of Australia. What country lies on this 8th continent? (bonus: what is the 8th continent called?).

Answer: New Zealand (bonus: Zealandia).

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