New Delhi: A whole world was hidden under the deep water of the Pacific Ocean, which has now been revealed by scientists. Many underwater volcanoes were discovered under the sea level near Cook Islands during an ocean campaign. The surprising thing is that some of these volcanoes can still be active. These volcanoes are located about 4700 km south of Hawaii. Scientists believe that if they become active then a unique ecosystem can be formed in the deep sea. However, no obvious volcanic activity has been signed so far. Experts at the Cabed Minerals Authority (SBMA) say that the area was not closely investigated till now. When there is complete analysis of the new map, then in the future scientists will be able to easily check these areas.
How to become a volcano?
Cook Islands is a group of 15 islands, located between French Polynesia and American Samoa. The island was made millions of years ago when the Pacific plate passed over a magma hotspot in the mental of the earth. Just like Hawaii Islands were formed.
Hotspot is a place where hot magma rises above the mental and reaches the crust and starts volcanic activities. When the magma bursts in water again and again, a volcano mountains are gradually formed under the sea. If this process continues for a long time, then these volcanic water can also come out of the surface of the water and create a new island.
Volcano hidden in Cook Islands
Most volcanoes of Cook Islands are several million years old. But a mixture of new and old volcanic stones has been found in the rocks of Rarotonga and ITutaki islands. This means that these islands have been made recently. Scientists discovered that Rarotonga's youngest volcanic stone is just 1.2 million years old.
6.7 lakh years old sign found in 2024
Recently, scientists studied a hidden volcanic rocks on the sea level of Cook Islands. This area is located 60 km south-east from Rarotonga and this volcano is named “Tama”. The age of these rocks came out only 670,000 years, which is the youngest volcanic rocks ever in Cook Islands.
Based on this discovery, scientists estimated that there may be many other underwater volcanoes from Rarotonga to the south-east of Tama.
Artex 2025 Mission – New Search in Ocean's depths
The Artex 2025 campaign was launched to detect these mysterious volcanoes. Its purpose was to make a map of sea level in detail around Rarotonga. During this campaign, scientists discovered one kilometer high volcanic “Pepe” on sea level. However, scientists have not yet fully confirmed whether these volcanoes are active or not. For this, they have to go directly and take samples of rocks.
The team of scientists now wants to go to this area again. Their aim is to collect samples of volcanic rocks and their exact age should be found. Apart from this, this discovery will also reveal whether a unique life is flourishing in the sea due to the heat of these volcanoes.
