January 5, 2009
Ancient Basalt ‘Wall’ Discovered In Taiwan
An enormous basalt formation has been discovered by a researcher in the Taiwan Strait, looking like an ancient city wall.
The 200 meter-long, 10 meter-high ancient wall, resembling pillars crammed together, is located near the Pescadores archipelago, said the researcher who found the wall, Jeng Ming-hsiou, on Monday.Jeng, a professor at the Academia Sinica in Taipei, was surprised to see the wall 25 miles west of Taiwan's during a leisurely dive.
"It was completely unexpected," laughed Jeng. "It's not easy to see these formations underwater."
Basalt walls such like the renowned Giant's Causeway in Ireland and the Wairere Boulders in New Zealand were discovered on land, but have never been discovered under water.
The Taiwan Strait formation, which is being called an early city wall, probably started with a volcanic eruption 1,800 years ago, Jeng added.
Basalt is a dark, weighty igneous rock that composes the majority of the world's oceanic crust.
Image Caption: This image shows the basalt rock formation near Penghu. The 200 meter-long, 10 meter-high undersea wall is near the Pescadores archipelago, researcher Jeng Ming-hsiou said on Monday. (Academia Sinica)
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