Discover 50 million year old volcanic cluster off Sydney

A cluster of volcanoes consisting of four extinct volcanoes, estimated at about 50 million years old, happened to be discovered off Sydney.

Cluster of 50 million year old volcanoes off Sydney

Australia's Ivestigator explorer has found volcanic clusters located 5 kilometers below sea level while searching for the habitat of fish and lobsters.

Model of volcanic cluster off Sydney.(Photo: CSIRO)

Professor Iain Suthers, head of the expedition, University of New South Wales, judged that this was an accidental discovery, but caused a great shock.

"On the screen are four extraordinary volcanoes that look like the cover of a geological book . If you can drain the ocean in just a few seconds, a great scene will appear, That architecture is amazing, " said Suthers. " They are part of Sydney's seabed, of Australia. So long ago we have no knowledge of their existence."

This volcanic cluster is 20 km long and 6 km wide, 250 km from Sydney coast . In it the highest mountain is 1.5 km wide and 700 meters high from the seabed. These volcanoes were formed after the eruption, when the surrounding land subsided to create craters today.

"They will tell us 40-80 million years ago, how New Zealand and Australia separated," said Professor Richard Arculus, the world's leading volcanic expert, working at Australian National University. identify.

The area found volcanic clusters off Sydney.(Photo: CSIRO)

The pre-Investigators of Investigator could only map the seabed at a depth of 3,000 meters. Professor Aruculus judged, Investigator is the first probe to go deep into the bottom of the great, mapping the bottom. The Investigator along with the newly discovered volcanic cluster opens the way to understanding the secrets of the Earth's deep crust.