Scientists discover a “yellow brick road” at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean
An expedition to the deep-sea ridge north of the Hawaiian Islands has found a surprise discovery in 2022: an ancient dry-style lake bed covered with pavements that look like a yellow brick road.
The exploration ship nautilus encountered a strange sight while investigating the Lilio Karani ridge within the Marine National Monument (PMNM) of Papahānaumokuākea.
PMNM is one of the largest marine reserves in the world, larger than all national parks in the United States, and we explored only 3% of its seabed.
Researchers from the Ocean Exploration Trust are pushing the boundary of this wilderness, which is located more than 3,000 meters above the waves, and the best part is that anyone can watch to explore.
The highlight reel of the adventure footage released on YouTube in April 2022 captured researchers operating deep-sea vehicles stumbled upon the road to the Wizard of Oz.
“This is the road to Atlantis,” a researcher on the broadcast yelled.
“Yellow brick road?” Another voice retorted.
“It’s weird,” another member of the team added.
“Are you kidding? This is crazy.”
The researchers found this finding very unusual. (Screenshot of Ocean Exploration Trust/e/v/nautilus/youtube)
Despite being located below the ocean about a thousand meters, the lake beds found by researchers on the top of the mountain in Nootka Seamount look surprisingly dry.
On the radio, the team noted that the ground looked almost like a “toast crust” that could peel.
In a small section, the volcanic rock breaks in a similar way to the brick.
“The unique 90-degree fracture may be related to the heating and cooling stresses of multiple eruptions at this baking edge,” the YouTube video titled.
At first glance, this effect can easily be mistaken for the path to a better new world. In a sense, this is not completely wrong.
Following the brick road is a sign of our heading in the right direction and you will soon learn more about the hidden geology of the Earth.
You can read more about the 2022 E/V Nautilus adventure here.
An earlier version of this article was released in May 2022.
