Mysterious lost islands with volcanoes found, may hold origin of Atlantis legend
Image of the newly discovered seamount Los Atlantes. (Courtesy: IGME-CSIC)
The mysterious lost islands,which sank in the ocean millions of years ago,have been rediscovered by researchers in Spain. Interestingly, some of them have their beaches still intact.
The scientists suspect that these islands were the place where the Atlantis legend originated.
"This could be the origin ofthe Atlantis legend,"said Luis Somoza, who is the head of a project to study volcanic activity off the Canary Islands, while speaking to Live Science.
The team discovered that the islands, which were on an underwater mountain or seamount, had nearly three inactive volcanoes and were around 31 miles (50 kilometres) in diameter.
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The newfound seamount was given the name Mount Los Atlantes by the scientists after the fabled civilisation of Plato, which was submerged into an ocean by the gods as a punishment for the immortality of the citizens.
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"They were islands in the past and they have sunk, they are still sinking, as the legend of Atlantis tells," said Somoza, who is a geologist with the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME-CSIC),in a translated statement.
How did scientists discover the mysterious Mount Los Atlantes?
Mount Los Atlantes was discovered by scientists when they were exploring the seabed near the east coast of Lanzarote on the CanaryIslands' eastern side, using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) at depths of between 330 and 8,200 feet (100 to 2,500 metre).
The dive was part of the Atlantis project of IGME-CSIC, which was aimed at getting clarity of the underwater hydrothermal and volcanic hydrothermal activity in the region.
Los Atlantes was most likely part of the series of islands which existed during the Eocene, which was 56 million to 34 million years ago.
"We have identified beaches, cliffs and sand dunes at the flat summit of the seamount," said Somoza, while speaking to Live Science.
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He added that the sand which covers the volcanic rock would have been deposited at a time when the islands were sinking actively.
Few of these beaches were present just 200 feet (60 metre) below the surface of the ocean. In thelast ice age, when sea levels were very low, the inactive volcanoes are likely to have become islands again.
"These islands could, then, be used for inhabiting wildlife," Somoza said. These inactive volcanoes sank when sea levels rose at the end of the ice age.
(With inputs from agencies)