Appearing like the Eye of Sauron from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, an ancient undersea volcano was slowly revealed by multibeam sonar 3,100 meters (10,170 feet) listed below our vessel, 280 kilometers (174 miles) southeast of Christmas Island.
This was on day 12 of our voyage of exploration to Australias Indian Ocean Territories, aboard CSIROs devoted ocean research study vessel, the RV Investigator.Previously unidentified and unimagined, this volcano emerged from our screens as a giant oval-shaped depression called a caldera, 6.2 km by 4.8 km throughout. It is surrounded by a 300-m-high rim (looking like Saurons eyelids), and has a 300-m-high cone-shaped peak at its center (the student).( Phil Vandenbossche & & Nelson Kuna/CSIRO, Author supplied) Above: Sonar picture of the Eye of Sauron volcano and nearby seamounts on the sea bed south-west of Christmas Island.A caldera is formed when a volcano collapses. The molten magma at the base of the volcano shifts up-wards, leaving empty chambers. The thin solid crust on the surface of the dome then collapses, producing a big crater-like structure. Often, a small new peak then starts to form in the center as the volcano continues gushing magma.One well-known caldera is the one at Krakatoa in Indonesia, which blew up in 1883, killing 10s of countless individuals and leaving just bits of the mountain rim noticeable above the waves. By 1927, a little volcano, Anak Krakatoa (” kid of Krakatoa”), had grown in its center. On the other hand, we may not even be aware of volcanic eruptions when they take place deep under the ocean. Among the couple of tell-tale signs is the presence of rafts of light pumice stone drifting on the sea surface area after being burnt out of a submarine volcano. Eventually, this pumice stone becomes waterlogged and sinks to the ocean floor.Our volcanic eye was not alone. More mapping to the south exposed a smaller sized sea mountain covered in various volcanic cones, and even more still to the south was a larger, flat-topped seamount.Following our Lord of the Rings style, we have actually nicknamed them Barad-dûr ( Dark Fortress) and Ered Lithui ( Ash Mountains), respectively.The Eye of Sauron. (Phil Vandenbossche & & Nelson Kuna/CSIRO, Author offered) Although author J.R.R. Tolkiens knowledge of mountain geology wasnt ideal, our names are incredibly appropriate offered the rugged nature of the very first and the pumice-covered surface of the second.The Eye of Sauron, Barad-dûr, and Ered Lithui belong to the Karma cluster of seamounts that have been previously approximated by geologists to be more than 100 million years old, and which formed beside an ancient sea ridge from a time when Australia was positioned much further south, near Antarctica.The flat summit of Ered Lithui was formed by wave disintegration when the seamount extended above the sea surface area, before the heavy seamount slowly sank back down into the soft ocean seafloor. The summit of Ered Lithui is now 2.6 km listed below sea level.But here is the geological quandary. Our caldera looks remarkably fresh for a structure that should be more than 100 million years old. Ered Lithui has almost 100 m of sand and mud layers draped over its summit, formed by sinking dead organisms over millions of years.This sedimentation rate would have partially smothered the caldera. Instead it is possible that volcanoes have continued to sprout or brand-new ones formed long after the initial structure. Our uneasy Earth is never ever still. Life adapts to these geological changes, and Ered Lithui is now covered in seafloor animals. Brittle-stars, crabs, sea-stars, and worms burrow into or skate over the sandy surface area. Put up black corals, fan-corals, sponges, barnacles, and sea-whips grow on exposed rocks. Gelatinous cusk-eels prowl around rock gullies and boulders. Batfish lie in wait for unsuspecting prey.Our mission is to map the seafloor and study sea life from these ancient and remote seascapes. The Australian government recently announced plans to create 2 huge marine parks throughout the regions. Our expedition will provide scientific information that will assist Parks Australia to handle these locations into the future.The trip of the recreational vehicle Investigator around Christmas Island. (Tim OHara/ Museums Victoria) Scientists from museums, universities, CSIRO, and Bush Blitz around Australia are taking part in the voyage. We are close to completing part among our journey to the Christmas Island area. Sequel of our journey to the Cocos (Keeling) Island area will be scheduled in the next year or so.No doubt lots of animals that we find here will be brand-new to science and our very first records of their presence will be from this area. We expect much more unexpected discoveries. Tim OHara, Senior Curator of Marine Invertebrates, Museums Victoria.This post is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the initial article..

This was on day 12 of our trip of expedition to Australias Indian Ocean Territories, aboard CSIROs devoted ocean research study vessel, the RV Unimagined and investigator.previously unknown, this volcano emerged from our screens as a giant oval-shaped anxiety called a caldera, 6.2 km by 4.8 km throughout. The molten magma at the base of the volcano shifts up-wards, leaving empty chambers. Typically, a small new peak then starts to form in the center as the volcano continues gushing magma.One well-known caldera is the one at Krakatoa in Indonesia, which took off in 1883, killing tens of thousands of individuals and leaving just bits of the mountain rim visible above the waves. One of the few telltale indications is the existence of rafts of light pumice stone floating on the sea surface after being blown out of a submarine volcano. Rather it is possible that volcanoes have continued to sprout or brand-new ones formed long after the initial foundation.