Massive Underwater Mountain Four Times Height of Burj Khalifa Skyscraper in Dubai Discovered in Pacific Ocean

Researchers recently came across an enormous underwater mountain in the Pacific Ocean. Oceanographers from the Schmidt Ocean Institute in California discovered a massive underwater mountain equal to the size of four Burj Khalifas stacked on top of each other, CNN reported. 

The expedition was conducted 900 miles (1,448 kilometers) off the coast of Chile, using the R/V Falkor research vessel by the team. The researchers mapped out the entire mountain using a sonar system.

"Sound waves go down and they bounce back off the surface, and we measure the time it takes to come back and get measured. From that we get a really good idea (of the seabed topography)," said Jyotika Virmani, the institute’s executive director.

Virmani shares that the technology will become essential for marine archeologists in the future because at present, only 26% of the seafloor has been mapped. Experts can use this technology to analyze the rest of the area, as it is more efficient and less time-consuming than the present methods, according to Virmani.

The underwater mountain is a habitat for sponge gardens, ancient corals, and rare marine species. Its size was estimated to be 1.9 miles (3,109 meters) in height, by researchers. This estimate makes the underwater mountain taller than Mount Olympus in Greece, which is 2,917 meters (9,570 feet) high and almost quadruple the 830-meter (2,723-foot) height of Burj Khalifa. 

Researchers were surprised to see the height of the underwater mountain and the flora and fauna surrounding it, CNN reported. The team located a ghostly white Casper octopus on one of the mountain ridges.

This was the first time this marine being was found in the southern Pacific. "The (Casper) octopus has never been captured, so it doesn’t actually have a scientific name yet," Virmani said.

Along with the white Casper Octopus, the experts also found two rare Bathyphysa siphonophores, known as flying spaghetti monsters, due to their stringlike appearance. Another rare marine being noted around the mountain was a Promachoteuthis squid, whose interaction with mankind is only through certain collected specimens.

The team took three expeditions to the Nazca Ridge, which is in international waters to map out the mountain and analyze other aspects of the area, CNN reported. "Across the three expeditions, we managed to map and explore 25 seamounts, which is quite a number to explore," Virmani said.

"I think we’ve got some good data as a community that could be put forward to make the case that this is a really interesting region for protection," she added.