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Strange ‘yellow brick road to Atlantis’ discovered at the bottom of Pacific Ocean

'That’s a unique structure,' said one of the scientists after discovering the archaeological marvel.

Strange ‘yellow brick road to Atlantis’ discovered at the bottom of Pacific Ocean
Representative Cover Image Source: Sea life on the seabed off Athens on August 26, 2018, in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Alessandro Rota/Getty Images)

With nearly 70% of Earth’s surface covered by water, our oceans hold some of the planet’s most intriguing geological and historical secrets. In 2022, marine biologists discovered a unique formation in an unexplored part of the Pacific Ocean—a structure they playfully nicknamed the “yellow brick road to Atlantis.” The Ocean Exploration Trust’s EVNautilus captured the breathtaking find on video and shared it on their YouTube channel.

Representative Image Source:  Photo by Lukasz Larsson Warzecha/Getty Images
Representative Image Source: Hagai Nativ, a marine biologist at the University of Haifa assisted by Dr Jessica Bellworthy [R] (Photo by Lukasz Larsson Warzecha/Getty Images)

This "yellow brick road" formation was located atop an undersea mountain near Hawaii, leaving the research team in awe. In the footage, one researcher expresses curiosity about sampling the manganese crust after spotting a strange, almost paved-looking pattern across its surface.

Representative Image Source: Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images
Representative Image Source: Dead coral lies on the seabed off the island of Huraa on December 12, 2019, near Male, Maldives (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Using a machine's claws, they extracted a chunk of the shiny, charcoal-grey ferromanganese crust. “That’s not sediment, that’s like baked crust. You can peel it off,” one of them says. “It's like bricks and cobblestone,” says another. Suddenly one of the researchers exclaims, “It’s the road to Atlantis!” Another adds, “That’s a really unique feature.”

Representative Image Source: Photo by Alessandro Rota/Getty Images
Representative Image Source: Sea life on the seabed off Athens on August 26, 2018, in Athens, Greece.  (Photo by Alessandro Rota/Getty Images)

“This is the yellow brick road,” someone else from the team exclaims. Another one says, “Are you kidding me? This is crazy.” One researcher says she feels like they’re on Mount Vesuvius, excavating. One of the team members shouts, “This is bizarre!”

Representative Image Source: The yellow brick road which marks the 65th anniversary of the making of
Representative Image Source: The yellow brick road which marks the 65th anniversary of the making of "The Wizard of Oz." (Photo by Evan Hurd/Corbis via Getty Images)

As per HISTORY, Atlantis is a mythical island nation mentioned in Greek philosopher Plato’s dialogues “Timaeus” and “Critias.” Plato describes Atlantis as an island larger than Libya and Asia Minor put together, located in the Atlantic just beyond the Pillars of Hercules, generally assumed to mean the Strait of Gibraltar. After a series of earthquakes and floods, this island sank into a muddy sea. The oceanographers believe that they have stumbled upon this lost city.

Representative Image Source: Legendary island of Atlantis first described by Plato (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)
Representative Image Source: Legendary island of Atlantis first described by Plato (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

However, what they called the “yellow brick road to Atlantis” was an example of ancient active volcanic geology, they wrote in the video description. They first discovered this structure when they dived on the Liliʻuokalani Ridge within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM). Swirls of seamounts rose from the seabed.



 

At the summit of Nootka Seamount, the team spotted a "dried lake bed" formation, which was later identified as a fractured flow of hyaloclastite rock, a volcanic rock formed in high-energy eruptions where many rock fragments settle to the seabed. “The unique 90-degree fractures are likely related to heating and cooling stress from multiple eruptions at this baked margin,” they wrote.

Representative Image Source: The Pacific Ocean at Manini'owali Beach at sunset in Hawaii. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
Representative Image Source: The Pacific Ocean at Manini'owali Beach at sunset in Hawaii. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

As shown in the footage, the team sampled basalts coated with ferromanganese crusts throughout the seamount chain at different depths and oxygen levels. They said one of these rocks “almost resembled a sponge.” 

Representative Image Source: Photo by Alexis Rosenfeld/Getty Images
Representative Image Source: A very healthy coral reef on February 14, 2018, in French Polynesia, South Pacific. Coral reefs are suffering from global warming and the increased frequency of storms. (Photo by Alexis Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

According to Vice, this team of oceanographers, first stepped aboard the EV Nautilus research vessel as part of the Ocean Exploration Trust to explore this region. The project is part of an expedition called Luʻuaeaahikiikekumu (Luʻu-a-ea-a-hiki-i-ke-kumu), which represents the journey into the foundation and origin of the oceans or islands. In this particular project, the aim was to explore the PMNM, a U.S. marine conservation area in the North Pacific Ocean outside of Hawaii. As per NautilusLive, this expedition was funded by NOAA Ocean Exploration via the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute with additional support from the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

Representative Image Source: Pexels | Photo by Pixabay
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Photo by Pixabay

As of the footage's posting, only 3% of the seafloor had been mapped. Researchers plan to use mapping equipment to create more detailed maps and uncover more secrets about this underwater area.



 

 

This article originally appeared 3 months ago.

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