19,000 underwater volcanoes discovered.

Researchers used high-resolution radar data to detect a range of underwater volcanoes in the world's oceans.

The 4,776-meter-high Pao Pao underwater mountain (right) in the South Pacific is among the mountains that have been mapped using sonar. Photo: Office of Oceanographic Research and Exploration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Radar data used in the new study can detect tiny traces of seawater pooling above underwater volcanoes, accumulating due to the mountain's gravity. Most of these underwater volcanoes remain unmapped using sonar, Interesting Engineering reports. The new catalog of underwater volcanoes was published in the journal Earth and Space Science.

Previously, only a quarter of the ocean floor was mapped using sonar, leaving scientists unsure of how many underwater volcanoes exist. However, new research using high-resolution radar data, including data from the European Space Agency's CryoSat-2 satellite and the SARAL satellites of the Indian and French space agencies, has identified the locations of underwater volcanoes 1,100 meters or taller.

According to marine geophysicist David Sandwell, who led the study, the new discovery is astonishing. Subsurface volcanoes pose a danger to ships, but they also contain rare earth elements and have become a commercial target for deep-sea mineral miners.

Subsurface volcanoes are also important oases for marine life. Their slopes are home to coral and many other organisms. In addition, they contain information about tectonic plates and magmatic activity, and help control major ocean currents, thus isolating significant amounts of heat and CO2.

According to Larry Mayer, director of the Center for Ocean and Coastal Mapping at the University of New Hampshire, the new catalog of underwater volcanoes is a significant step forward. The catalog could be useful for studies on ecology, plate tectonics, and ocean mixing. John Lowell, a scientist at the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), said that a better understanding of seafloor shapes will help in responding to climate change.

According to VNE

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