University of Melbourne scientists published findings stating 5 underwater columns ( they dub the ‘Drowned Apostles’ ) were discovered by sonar mapping at the ‘Twelve Apostles’.
The ‘Twelve Apostles’ are a series of giant rock formations of different heights in the Southern Ocean, about 230 kilometers southwest of Melbourne. They started forming 20 million years ago when erosion gradually began of the nearby limestone cliffs.
The newly discovered ‘Drowned Apostles’ are unique because sea stacks usually erode and collapse as the sea level rises.
Rhiannon Bezore of the University’ of Melbourne geography department told AFP:
“The reason that they survived is because as the sea level rose after they were formed, it must have been rising at such a fast pace that they were submerged before the waves had the chance to erode them away and they collapse.”
Photo of the Twelve Apostles by Mad Travel Diaries
