Sunken Island ‘Brazilian Atlantis’ Discovered by Geologists

A team of Brazilian geologists announced Monday that they have discovered evidence of a sunken island - a possible 'Brazilian Atlantis'. They found huge chunks of granite on the seabed off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, which they predict is a part of the original continent Pangaea that got submerged when the Atlantic Ocean was formed, as Africa and South America drifted apart some 100 million years ago.

According to Robert Ventura Santos, director of Geology Service of Brazil (CPRM), it is very unusual to discover granite some 8,000 feet beneath the sea, because the rock is a kind that grows on dry land. Granite is not found on the seabed; it is mostly found on mainlands, and this points to the fact that the research finding could indeed be an island.

"This could be the Brazilian Atlantis. We are almost certain but we must strengthen our hypothesis. We will have final scientific confirmation this year when we drill in the area to retrieve more samples of these rocks," Santos told the news agency G1.

They found large volumes of quartz around the area, and the bedrock consists mainly of basalt rock. After carefully analyzing the video data, it was concluded by the agency authorities that the huge chunk was granite.

The team, consisting of researchers from the Brazilian Geological Survey, the Oceanographic Institute of Sao Paolo, and Japan's Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, discovered the rocks during an expedition to study the Rio Grande Elevation, which is a mountain range underneath the ocean.

The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology assisted the Geology Service of Brazil and the team used a Japanese Shinkai 6500 submarine to examine the unexplored waters some 900 miles off the cost of Rio de Janeiro, where the granite slabs were discovered. No manmade structures have been discovered on the seabed. This is the first time that research has been conducted in the South Atlantic using a manned submersible.

Further research needs to be conducted to arrive at a definite decision. The discovered piece of granite, however, "could revolutionize our understanding of the formation and evolution of the Earth's crust," said Roberto Ventura, a director at the Brazilian Geological Service and a member of the team that announced the discovery Monday. 

The Japanese experts remain cautious before jumping to conclusions.

Shinchi Kawakami, a professor at Gifu University, was quoted in Japan Times stating that it could be possible that the granite was a part of a big continent before it separated into the present-day Africa and South America.

"South America and Africa used to be a huge, unified continent. The area in question may have been left in water as the continent was separated in line with the movements of plates," he continued to say.

He emphasises on the need to carefully analyze the composition of granite and check if it matches the composition of the granite that is currently found in Africa and South America.

"The concept of Atlantis came way before geology of the modern age was established. We should not jump to the Atlantis conclusion right away," he said.