A team of scientists aboard the Australian Research ship has discovered several extinct volcano clusters from about 50 million years ago about 250 kilometers off the coast of Sydney (Australia).
28 scientists from the University of New South Wales and other Australian universities were part of the Investigator’s expedition that left Brisbane on June 3 . The volcanoes were discovered just 4,900 meters deep while searching for larval lobster breeding grounds.
The four volcanoes in question are calderas formed after the volcano erupted and later a crater formed . The largest is 1.5 kilometers in circumference and rises 700 meters from the seabed. The center of the volcanic cluster is 248 kilometers from Sydney Heads . It is 20 kilometers long and six kilometers wide.
“These volcanoes tell us part of the story of how New Zealand and Australia parted ways around 40-80 million years ago and now they are going to help scientists guide future exploration of the seabed to discover the secrets of the crust of the earth. They had not been found so far because the sonar of the previous National Marine Fund (MNF) research vessel, the Southern Surveyor , could only map the seabed up to 3,000 meters, leaving half of Australia’s marine territory out of reach. ”Explains volcanologist Richard Arculus, co-author of the research.
