Huge undersea mountain found off Indonesia: scientists

May 29, 2009 This aerial view shows new homes being constructed to the north of Banda Aceh

Enlarge

This aerial view shows new homes being constructed to the north of Banda Aceh on the island of Sumatra in 2006. A massive underwater mountain discovered off the Indonesian island of Sumatra could be a volcano with potentially catastrophic power, a scientist said Friday.

A massive underwater mountain discovered off the Indonesian island of Sumatra could be a volcano with potentially catastrophic power, a scientist said Friday.

Indonesian government marine geologist Yusuf Surachman said the was discovered earlier this month about 330 kilometres (205 miles) west of Bengkulu city during research to map the seabed's seismic faultlines.

The cone-shaped mountain is 4,600 metres (15,100 feet) high, 50 kilometres in diameter at its base and its summit is 1,300 metres below the surface, he said.

"It looks like a volcano because of its conical shape but it might not be. We have to conduct further investigations," he told AFP.

He denied reports that researchers had confirmed the discovery of a new , insisting that at this stage it could only be described as a "seamount" of the sort commonly found around the world.

"Whether it's active or dangerous, who knows?" he added.

The ultra-deep geological survey was conducted with the help of French scientists and international geophysical company CGGVeritas.

The scientists hope to gain a clearer picture of the undersea lithospheric plate boundaries and seafloor displacement in the area, the epicentre of the catastrophic Asian and tsunami of 2004.

The tsunami killed more than 220,000 people across Asia, including 168,000 people in Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra.

is on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and .

(c) 2009 AFP


   
Rate this story - 3.9 /5 (16 votes)

Rank Filter

Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

  • El_Nose - May 29, 2009
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (6)
    ^
    |
    |
    | --- Who is this guy?? and why is he talking
  • itm - May 29, 2009
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (4)
    I immediately fired up my Google Earth, drew a line of 205 miles to the Westward from Bengkulu and lo and behold... there it sits! An enormous coneshaped undersea mountain...

    Now, did Google Earth already update its seamaps?
    Or was it always there to be seen?
    Then why send an expedition if Google knows?
    Curious,
    Isaac / Rotterdam
  • Nik_2213 - May 29, 2009
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (5)
    "That is why the ocean expanded and developed an powerful earthquake..."

    Um, actually that area is *contracting* across the subduction zone as Australasian etc plate slides NE, like India rammed into Asia...
  • jonnyboy - May 29, 2009
    • Rank: 4 / 5 (5)
    "That is why the ocean expanded and developed an powerful earthquake..."

    Um, actually that area is *contracting* across the subduction zone as Australasian etc plate slides NE, like India rammed into Asia...


    Stop confusing the dude with real science!!!!!!!!!

    In his world the sky ain't blue
  • THEY - May 29, 2009
    • Rank: not rated yet
    itm - GOOD CALL!
  • otto1923 - May 29, 2009
    • Rank: 4.7 / 5 (3)
    His brain is expanding faster than his skull I think
  • Velanarris - May 30, 2009
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (3)
    His brain is expanding faster than his skull I think

    Meningitis is a hell of a drug....
  • JukriS - May 30, 2009
    • Rank: 1 / 5 (4)
    Maybe i am wrong, but i just wonder, why you dont have a theory of everything?

    Maybe you have a wrong model of/an atom?

    If that mountain getting bigger "fast", how you can explain, i already profetian that?

    .
  • Velanarris - May 30, 2009
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (4)
    Maybe i am wrong, but i just wonder, why you dont have a theory of everything?
    Pretty big leap to go from established science into the realm of future tech in a single comparison.
    Maybe you have a wrong model of/an atom?
    Experimentally proven, sorry, you're incorrect. The only change in our model of an atom will come at the refinement level, not the re-establishment level.
    If that mountain getting bigger "fast", how you can explain, i already profetian that?
    Profetian? Do you mean prophetian? or Prophesied?



    .
  • Nik_2213 - May 30, 2009
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (3)
    Loihi Seamount

    http://www.soest....ihi.html



    Here's one of those sea-bed volcanoes when it was younger...
  • dhughes - May 31, 2009
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (3)
    I immediately fired up my Google Earth, drew a line of 205 miles to the Westward from Bengkulu and lo and behold... there it sits! An enormous coneshaped undersea mountain...



    Now, did Google Earth already update its seamaps?

    Or was it always there to be seen?

    Then why send an expedition if Google knows?

    Curious,

    Isaac / Rotterdam



    I did that too, it's pretty obvious something is there. Is it really that easy to discover something?

    http://maps.googl...?ie=UTF8&ll=-4.195769,99.816284&spn=2.358308,4.229736&t=h&z=9
  • JukriS - May 31, 2009
    • Rank: 1 / 5 (5)
    divination, augury, prognostication, prediction, prophecy

    I already prophecy phenomena like Dark Flow.

    "Patches of matter in the universe seem to be moving at very high speeds and in a uniform direction that can't be explained by any of the known gravitational forces in the observable universe. Astronomers are calling the phenomenon "dark flow.""

    http://www.space....ows.html



    It easy to understund that this klusetrs coming some other huge energyconcentration who exploding and emit/radiate energywaves who have nature of galaxys!

    Just remember, i divination, augury, prognostication, prediction, prophecy, that Huge undersea mountain it is going to increase, build up, intensify, grow, accelerate faster than other mountain, because of that energypulse 2004!

    There is two possibilty. That energy who it is inside nucleus of atoms exploding/expanding all a time or not.

    If not, how that energy stay in same density, compactness, tightness, thickness? What is that force who keeping energy in same density? How it is working?
  • Velanarris - Jun 08, 2009
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
    It's taken me 8 days to attempt to understand your post.

    I still don't.

May 29, 2009 all stories

Comments: 13

3.9 /5 (16 votes)

  • hide
  • Related Stories

  • Major Pacific earthquake prompts tsunami warning
    created Mar 20, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Nine dead in Indonesian earthquake
    created Sep 12, 2007 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Scientists find evidence of tsunamis on Indian Ocean shores long before 2004
    created Oct 29, 2008 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Researchers to visit site of 2004, 2005 Indonesian quakes
    created Apr 30, 2007 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Geoscientist Finds Surprise Hidden in the Pacific
    created Jan 15, 2008 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0



  • hide
  • Relevant PhysicsForums posts

  • Carbon Dioxide emissions question
    created Feb 08, 2010
  • Photosynthesis vs. carbonization
    created Feb 07, 2010
  • Sheep's footprints
    created Feb 05, 2010
  • How did Victorians estimate the ages of fossils?
    created Feb 03, 2010
  • More from Physics Forums - Earth

Other News

Rho Ophiuchus cloud

Professor: We have a 'moral obligation' to seed universe with life

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created 16 hours ago | popularity 3.3 / 5 (22) | comments 45 | with audio podcast report

(PhysOrg.com) -- Eventually, the day will come when life on Earth ends. Whether that’s tomorrow or five billion years from now, whether by nuclear war, climate change, or the Sun burning up its fuel, the last ...


A new 3-D map of the interstellar gas within 300 parsecs from the sun

A new 3D map of the interstellar gas within 300 parsecs from the Sun

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created 7 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomy & Astrophysics is publishing new 3D maps of the interstellar gas in the local area around our Sun. A French-American team of astronomers presents new absorption measurements toward ...


38 percent of world's surface in danger of desertification

38 percent of world's surface in danger of desertification

Space & Earth / Environment

created 1hour ago | popularity 2.3 / 5 (3) | comments 4

A team of Spanish researchers has measured the degradation of the planet's soil using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a scientific methodology that analyses the environmental impact of human activities, and ...


Climate 'Tipping Points' May Arrive Without Warning, Says Top Forecaster

Space & Earth / Environment

created 4 hours ago | popularity 3 / 5 (4) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new University of California, Davis, study by a top ecological forecaster says it is harder than experts thought to predict when sudden shifts in Earth's natural systems will occur -- a worrisome finding ...


URI researcher calls for global effort to monitor marine pollutants

Space & Earth / Environment

created 5 hours ago | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 1

A University of Rhode Island researcher who studies chemical pollutants in the marine environment has called on colleagues around the world to establish a global monitoring network to verify that the chemicals banned by the ...