Underwater mountain discovery linked to Atlantis legend

The Live Science portal reports that an underwater mountain with three inactive volcanoes could have inspired the legend of Atlantis. Spanish scientists have discovered lost islands that sank deep underwater millions of years ago.

Luis Somoza, a researcher studying volcanic activity near the Canary Islands, suggested in an interview with Live Science that this discovery might be the origin of the Atlantis legend. His team found an underwater mountain with three inactive volcanoes. Its diameter reaches 31 miles, and its base is about 1.4 miles below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. The discoverers named the mountain Los Atlantes.

The discovery of the mountain, sunk to a depth of several miles, was aided by a remotely operated vehicle that scientists used to explore the seabed off the eastern coast of Lanzarote, the easternmost Canary Island. The project aimed to understand underwater volcanic and hydrothermal activity in the region.

As determined so far, the Los Atlantes mountain was a cluster of islands during the Eocene (a period from 56 to 34 million years ago). When the volcanoes stopped erupting, the lava began to harden, and over time, the islands started to sink into the Atlantic. However, they retained their character, which scientists confirmed in their research. Somoza explained that they discovered beaches, cliffs, and dunes on the flat summit of the underwater mountain.

Researchers also point out that some identified underwater beaches are just 197 feet below the ocean's surface. Previously, no one had paid attention to or examined them closely. Such a shallow depth, according to scientists, means that during the last ice age, when sea levels were much lower than today, the underwater mountain could have been home to wildlife.

Although Somoza himself mentions the legend of Atlantis—a highly developed civilization that, according to Plato, sank into the ocean in one day and night around 360 B.C.—so far, scientists have not identified any traces of civilization under the ocean near the Canary Islands.

The discovery partly matches the mythical Atlantis, as the once-sunken island could have been inhabited. However, there is no evidence to confirm this with 100 percent certainty.

The team led by Somoza will soon analyze samples collected from Los Atlantes. This will likely help determine the age of the volcanic rocks and establish when the islands began to sink. Next year, the team plans to return to the underwater mountains and volcanoes to examine them more closely.