“We have identified beaches, cliffs and sand dunes at the flat summit of the seamount,” wrote geologist Luis Somoza to Live Science, his words highlighting a find that shatters the divide between myth and geology. Since centuries, humans have been fascinated by the myth of Atlantis, but now Spanish scientists found a geological phenomenon that could put Plato’s story firmly on the basis of the history of the planet Earth.
Mount Los Atlantes, a massive underwater mountain chain to the north of the Canary Islands, is also an emerging contender for the actual source of inspiration for Atlantis. The 50-kilometer-wide seamount contains three dormant volcanoes, the floor of which drops more than two kilometers below the sea bottom. Defined by Spain’s Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME-CSIC), these volcanoes used to be Eocene islands, dating back 56 to 34 million years ago, before they sank beneath the seas with declining volcanic activity and most of solidified lava stacking on their mass. “They were islands in the past and they have sunk, they are still sinking, as the legend of Atlantis tells,” Somoza told Live Science, describing dynamic processes that are still molding the Atlantic seafloor.
The study, which was carried out within the ambitious Atlantis venture, utilized the oceanographic ship Sarmiento de Gamboa and its advanced remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to explore the seafloor as deep as 2,500 meters. Equipped with ultra-high-definition cameras, robotic arms, and gas sensors, the ROV recorded high-definition images and returned samples of rocks from volcanoes, sediments, and even gases like CO₂ and methane. This dive-capable technology, 6,000 meters in depth, allowed the team to chart single-use beaches today underwater only 60 meters below, leftovers from when ocean levels were lower and the islands were above water in the last ice age.
The geological record of Los Atlantes testifies to the power of plate tectonics. The Canary Islands themselves are a result of volcanic activity at the boundary between the African/Eurasian plate. Seamounts such as Los Atlantes are normally the result of upwelling magma at a mid-ocean ridge or hotspot, where lithospheric plates of the Earth are being torn apart or where mantle plumes break through the crust. Through the course of millions of years, as volcanic eruptions stopped, the islands lost buoyancy and sank slowly a phenomenon that one witnesses in other oceanic areas as well, like the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain.
What is interesting about Los Atlantes is that its geomorphological structures remain intact. “Some of us have been able to verify that they still maintain their beaches,” Somoza explained, illustrating the breathtaking resilience of those primeval landscapes. The high-definition cameras of the ROV showed not just beaches and dunes, but also hot and vibrant environments flourishing in the wake of eruptions. Gardens of coral, sponges, and bacterial mats have established themselves on the lava deltas, showing how life returns after geological disturbance.
The significance of the discovery is greater than legend and geology. Some of the investigation in the multidisciplinary Atlantis project is hydrothermal vents and submarine mineralization specifically, manganese, cobalt, and rare earth. Concentrating these minerals in the conditions of the environments surrounding hydrothermal sources using microbes is crucial to the planet’s energy conversion happening, supporting technologies ranging from batteries to wind turbines. The discovery of the project agrees with what other deep-sea projects, like the EXPLOSEA2 cruise mapping hydrothermal vent fields and uncovering new coral communities at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, have achieved.
These hydrothermal environments are not only mineral but also biodiversity hotspots. The chemistry between superheated water and volcanic rock generates chemical gradients that support unique microbial communities, which in turn support associated higher organisms such as tube worms, deep-sea corals, and crabs. The capacity of these communities to recolonize recently cooled lava in decades is enlightening for the history of the origins of life on Earth as well as to the prospect of recovery following environmental perturbation.
The technical competency behind these developments cannot be overstated. The Sarmiento de Gamboa, equipped with ROVs, seismic profilers, and multibeam echosounders, is the new face of oceanography. Automated sampling, high-definition mapping, and real-time 3D visualization have revolutionized our capacity to map and understand the deep sea. These innovations have also facilitated easier monitoring of volcanic and seismic dangers, a relevant issue for the Canary Islands, which recently witnessed eruptions and submarine activity.
The tale of Los Atlantes is, in effect, a geology of Earth’s fitful history a world in which continents move, volcanoes well and vanish, and land and sea shore meet and separate. It is also an intimation that myths such as Atlantis might have their origins in actual, describable processes, their reverberations buried in the strata beneath the ocean. And as scientists move forward, the relationship between science, technology, and myth will uncover more secrets of the unseen landscapes that control the past and future of our world.
