12 Underwater Volcanoes Discovered around South Sandwich Islands

A chain of a dozen volcanoes beneath the sea surface in the southern Atlantic Ocean around South Sandwich Islands has been discovered, scientists from British Antarctic Survey said.

Some of the peaks tower nearly 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) above the ocean floor — nearly tall enough to break the water's surface. The group of 12 underwater mountains lies south of the South Sandwich Islands — desolate, ice-covered volcanoes that rise above the southern Atlantic Ocean about halfway between South America and South Africa and erupted as recently as 2008. It's the first time such a large number of undersea volcanoes has been found together in the Antarctic region.