Geologists found “Mordor” on the bottom of the ocean
MOSCOW, 22 Jan — RIA Novosti. Geologists discovered off the coast of Australia the area of underwater volcanoes, reminiscent of Mordor from the works of John Tolkien’s “the Lord of the rings”, reports Tech Times. The discovery was made by researchers from the Adelaide and Aberdeen universities and the Australian State Association of scientific and applied research (CSIRO).
Using data obtained through three-dimensional seismic reflection, researchers found out that the underwater landscape was formed from 26 lava flows about 35 million years ago. The length of these streams exceeds 34 km and the width reaches 15. The structure formed after the eruption of volcanoes, which were located at depths less than 300 meters. Their height varied from 60 to 625 meters.
As reported on the website of the University of Aberdeen, now the data are used in order to understand what is happening with the volcanoes during the eruption underwater.
“Using information obtained in the course of exploration, we were able to create a detailed map of these ancient lava flows to discover the stunning volcanic landscape, reminiscent of illustrations from “Lord of the rings,” said one of the study’s authors, Dr. Nick Schofield.
According to an employee of the University of Aberdeen, submarine volcanoes are difficult to study because of its location. However, used in the study of technology can simplify this process.
“With this method we got a unique view of the landscape, which remained hidden for millions of years,” — said the scientist.