Scientists Follow a 'Yellow Brick Road' in a Never-Before-Seen Spot of The Pacific Ocean
An expedition to a deep-sea ridge, just north of the Hawaiian Islands, has revealed an ancient dried-out lake bed paved with what looks like a yellow brick road.
The eerie scene was chanced upon by the exploration vessel Nautilus, which is currently surveying the Liliʻuokalani ridge within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM). ...
All day every day, researchers provide live footage, and a recently published highlight reel on YouTube captures the moment researchers operating the deep-sea vehicle stumbled upon the road to Oz.
"It's the road to Atlantis," a researcher on the radio can be heard exclaiming.
"The yellow brick road?" another voice countered.
"This is bizarre," added another member of the team.
"Are you kidding me? This is crazy." ..
Despite being located under thousands of kilometers of ocean, the lake bed discovered by researchers on the summit of the Nootka seamount looks surprisingly dry. On the radio, the team notes that the ground looks almost like "baked crust" that could be peeled off.
In one tiny section, the volcanic rock has fractured in a way that looks strikingly similar to bricks.
"The unique 90-degree fractures are likely related to heating and cooling stress from multiple eruptions at this baked margin," reads a caption to the YouTube video. ...
