4 giant underwater volcanoes discovered off coast of Sydney, Australia

Four enormous underwater volcanoes, thought to be about 50 million years old, have been discovered off the coast of Sydney, Australia.

The four volcanoes are calderas, large bowl-shaped craters caused when a volcano erupts and the land around it collapses. The largest is 1.5km across the rim and rises 700m from the sea floor. The 20km-long volcano cluster is nearly 5km underwater.

This unexpected discovery of the four instinct underwater volcanoes was made by scientists searching for lobster larvae.

As described on The University of New South Wales‘s website:

[quote_box_center]The centre of the volcanic cluster is 33 31 S, 153 52 E, which is 248 kilometres from Sydney Heads. The cluster is 20 kilometres long and six kilometres wide and the seafloor is 4890 metres deep, with the highest point in the cluster rising up to 3,998 metres.[/quote_box_center]

The underwater world is full of surprises and these 4 extinct volcanoes are the proof for it! Amazing!

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