Sydney: Ancient huge underwater volcanoes are reported to have discovered in deep sea near the Sydney coast. These colossal volcanoes were discovered by scientists who were on an investigation research vessel in search of lobster larvae. The cluster of four ancient volcanoes discovered about 250 km off the coast are thought to be about 50 million years old. These amazing discoveries were carried out through sonar mapping of the sea floor by the new ocean-going research vessel of Australia called Investigator. The newly found four volcanoes are appeared to be volcanic craters with large bowl-shaped depression. They might have formed either during volcanic eruptions or by the collapse of the land around it. The largest among them is measured 1.5km across the rim and extended up to 700 meters from the sea floor. The 20km-long volcano cluster is nearly
5km underwater. Professor Iain Suthers, a marine biologist at the University of New South Wales, said that the discovery of the volcanoes were made when the team was searching nursery grounds for lobster larvae. It is believed by the Scientists that the volcanoes were created by a series of shifts in geological plates which caused Australia to split from New Zealand. According to Suthers the area was thought to be billiard-table flat and it was the enhanced mapping capability of the Investigator that enabled scientists to unveil the secrecy of calderas. The 94-meter sophisticated Investigator which undertook its first sea tests in March this year was commissioned by the CSIRO in 2009. The vessel is capable to map the sea-floor irrespective of the depth, whereas its aging predecessor, the Southern Surveyor, was limited to 3,000 meters only. Professor Richard Arculus, an igneous petrologist and volcano expert at the Australian National University, said that the mapping ability of the Investigator has unveiled an enormously exciting discovery regarding underwater volcanoes. Video on the discovery of underwater volcanoes in deep sea near Sydney
