Jurassic World, a hidden volcano, was discovered in Australia.
About 65,438+000 volcanoes were formed between 6,543.8+08 billion and 6,543.8+06 billion years ago. In a new research report, researchers say that the area is nearly 2,900 square miles (7,500 square kilometers), and this Jurassic landform that once erupted lava is buried under rocks hundreds of feet deep in Cooper Basin and Eromanga Basin in Australia, which are located in the middle of the African continent.
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More than 30 years ago, the first evidence of igneous rocks (rocks formed by cooling magma) was discovered by drilling in Cooper Basin and Eromanga Basin, which can be traced back to the Jurassic period about 654.38+99.6 million years ago to 654.38+45.5 million years ago. Simon Holford, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of petroleum geosciences at the Australian Petroleum Institute of the University of Adelaide, said that in the following decades, experts collected "a lot of data" from the ground.
However, scientists have not studied this until recently. Holford told Field Science in an email: "Find data on where these rocks may have come from. Despite these data, volcanoes have never been correctly understood-until now. Therefore, we are in a favorable position to rebuild the ancient geological process.
Three-dimensional seismic data show that there are two craters buried underground in Australia since Jurassic. (J.P.A hardman, S.P. Holford, N. Schofield and others); And craters. According to this research, scientists now name the Warnie volcano area after the nearby exploration well Warnie East 1. The Jurassic period is no longer active, and the volcanic network will be highly active, spewing lava and volcanic ash from cracks and craters. Holford said that although southeast Australia experienced volcanic activity as early as 5,000 years ago, these volcanoes are still very calm today. Holford said: "Gambia Hill in South Australia was built on a Holocene volcano, which is very similar in size and shape to the volcano we found." . (The Holocene started at 12000 and lasted until 1 1500 years ago. )
What buried this ancient volcano? Holford said that this is not a catastrophic event; Instead, volcanoes were slowly submerged by sedimentary layers for millions of years. In fact, all areas in central Australia have been slowly sinking for about 65.438+0.6 billion years, although scientists are still not completely sure why. Over time,
Holford said that the subsidence of ancient landforms caused hundreds of meters deep sedimentary rocks, mainly shale and sandstone, to be buried and preserved.
More importantly, the authors report that other "volcanic zones" may be hidden in Australia and other parts of the world.
"Many people tend to pay attention to what we can see, but we need to consider what we can't see buried in the ground," Holford said.
This discovery was published online in Gondwana Continental Studies on August 13.
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