Researchers have discovered four gigantic seamounts towering above the seafloor surrounding South America after detecting “gravitational anomalies” given off by the massive underwater mountains. The tallest rises more than 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) from the seafloor, making it three times taller than the world’s tallest building
Scientists aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Falkor (too) research vessel recently discovered and mapped the quartet of seamounts in the deep sea between 286 and 373 miles (460 and 600 km) off the coast of Peru and Chile during an expedition through the East Pacific from Costa Rica to Chile.
The three Peruvian peaks measured 5,220 feet (1,591 meters), 5,459 feet (1,644 m) and 6,145 feet (1,873 m) tall respectively. But the largest seamount, found off Chile, rises 8,796 feet (2,681 m) above the ocean’s bottom, bringing it to within a mile of the surface. For comparison, the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, is 2,716 feet (828 m) tall, while the Empire State Building stands at 1,250 feet (380 m).
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