Four extinct underwater volcanoes discovered off Sydney coastJuly 13, 2015 - 21:21 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A team of researchers has unexpectedly discovered four extinct underwater volcanoes off the coast of Sydney in Australia, according to BBC News. The team from Australia's national science agency (CSIRO) made the discovery during a search for larval lobster breeding grounds. The cluster of volcanoes is believed to be around 50 million years old. The researchers say the discovery may hold clues to how Australia separated from New Zealand. The volcanoes were discovered about 250km (155 miles) off the coast of Sydney. "This is the first time these volcanoes have been seen," volcano expert Richard Arculus told AFP. "We know the surface topography of Mars better than we know our backyard because there's no water in the way. I think every time we turn the spotlight on the sea floor we see things that we've never seen before." It is hoped the discovery will help scientists to better understand the Earth's crust, and the composition of the underlying mantle layer. "It's a bit like going through somebody's garbage bin and determining what they've been eating," Richard Arculus said. "They tell us part of the story of how New Zealand and Australia separated around 40 to 80 million years ago." Scientists say the biggest of the four volcanoes rises 700m off the sea floor, with a crater spanning 1.5km across. The BBC says while New Zealand has a few active volcanoes, the last eruption in Australia is thought to have been more than 5,000 years ago. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |