The discovery of 100 underground volcanoes in the outback is set to change Australians' understanding of the continent, new findings claim.
An international team, including scientists from the University of Adelaide and the University of Aberdeen, uncovered the volcanoes using advanced subsurface imaging technology to identify volcanic craters, lava flows and magma chambers in the Cooper-Eromanga basins in South Australia.
The volcanoes developed in the Jurassic period, between 180 and 160 million years ago, and have been buried beneath hundreds of metres of sedimentary rocks. And it suggests that Australia was more volcanic than previously thought. Simon Holford, Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide, explained that these volcanoes could just be the start. "Our discovery raises the possibility that there might be more buried volcanic landscapes beneath the surface of the Australian continent," Professor
