Researchers in the Indian Ocean have discovered the remnants of an underwater volcano that bears a striking resemblance to “The Eye of Sauron” from the famous fantasy series “The Lord of the Rings” by author J.R.R. Tolkien.
The “Eye of Sauron” Volcano measures 6.2 km in length and 4.8 km in width. This volcanic crater is a remnant of the ancient collapse of a volcano on the deep sea floor. It is surrounded by a 300 m high rim, creating an impression similar to an eyelid, with a cone-shaped peak in the center that resembles a pupil.
Over 100 million-year-old volcano intact on the seabed in Australia.
This unusual volcano is located approximately 280 km southwest of Christmas Island, Australia, an external territory of Australia. It lies at a depth of 3,100 m.
A team of researchers discovered this structure while aboard the ocean research vessel Investigator, owned by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) of Australia, on the 12th day of their expedition to Australia’s Indian Ocean Territory. Like other volcanoes, this volcano formed when the summit of the original volcano collapsed.
“Magma rising at the base of the volcano moves upward, leaving voids beneath. The thin, solid crust on the surface of the dome then collapses, creating a large structure resembling a crater,” said chief scientist Tim O’Hara, a senior curator at Museums Victoria in Australia.
Continuing the connection to Tolkien’s fantasy novels, the researchers named the cone-shaped mountain Barad-dûr, after Sauron’s main fortress, and the connecting ridge Ered Lithui, named after the Ash Mountains, both of which are found alongside the Eye of Sauron in the dark realm of Mordor. Ered Lithui is part of a cluster of formations believed to be around 100 million years old.
Over millions of years, sand and debris—granular materials including plankton, feces, and other organic matter—have covered the formation with a sediment layer approximately 100 m thick. However, the crater remains relatively intact upon discovery.
O’Hara stated: “This rate of sedimentation would have likely obscured and concealed part of the crater. Yet, it appears surprisingly intact for a structure that is supposed to be 100 million years old.”
This integrity suggests that the volcano was formed, then collapsed and sank into the ocean.
