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research worker in Spain have uncovered lose island that bury into the ocean millions of years ago , some of which still have their beach intact .
" This could be the origin ofthe Atlantis legend,“Luis Somoza , the forefront of a project to analyze volcanic activity off the Canary Islands , tell Live Science in an email .
Lava flows on Los Atlantes, a newly discovered seamount that sank into the ocean millions of years ago.
The team found the islands on a seamount , or subaquatic mountain , which take three now inactive volcano and is about 31 knot ( 50 kilometer ) in diameter . Its foot is about 1.4 miles ( 2.3 km ) below the surface of the ocean .
scientist dubbed the newfound seamount Mount Los Atlantes after Plato ’s legendary civilization that the divinity plunk into the ocean as a punishment for its citizens ' immorality .
Related : Scientists find ancient , underwater vent is still active — and covered in up to a million giant eggs
Close up view of the summit of Los Atlantes, a seamount containing three inactive volcanoes.
" They were island in the past and they have sunk , they are still sink , as the legend of Atlantis tell , " Somoza , a geologist with the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain ( IGME - CSIC),said in a render argument .
Scientists found Mount Los Atlantes while explore the seabed off the east coast of Lanzarote , the easternmost of the Canary Islands , using a remotely operated fomite ( ROV ) at depths of between 330 and 8,200 feet ( 100 to 2,500 m ) . The honkytonk was part of IGME - CSIC ’s Atlantis undertaking , which aims to better understand underwater volcanic and hydrothermal bodily function in the part .
Los Atlantes would have been a series of islands during the Eocene ( 56 million to 34 million years ago ) . Once the volcanoes stopped erupting , the lava solidify and became denser , causing the island to sink into the sea . But some of the features of these lost islands remain .
" We have identified beach , cliffs and gumption dunes at the flat pinnacle of the seamount , " Somoza told Live Science , adding that the sand that now covers the volcanic rock candy would have been deposited when the islands were actively sinking .
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Some of the beaches sit just 200 feet ( 60 m ) below the oceans ' Earth’s surface . During thelast ice years , when ocean levels were far lower than they are today , the static vent would have become islands again . " These islands could , then , be used for inhabiting wildlife , " he said . When sea levels come up as the ice age ended , they sank again .
The squad will now study the samples collected from Los Atlantes to date the volcanic rocks and nail when the islands start to sink , Somoza said . They also plan to rejoin to the Cuban sandwich volcanoes of the Canary Islands during an sashay next yr .
