cosgrove volcano chain Australia
The world's largest chain of continental volcanoes, dubbed Cosgrove hotspot track, has been discovered in Australia. Drew Whitehouse/NCI National Facility

A chain of continental volcanoes that stretches across more than 1,200 miles has been discovered in Australia. According to the researchers, the recently discovered chain of volcanoes has been the largest one in the world discovered so far.

The chain of volcanoes, dubbed the Cosgrove hotspot track, runs along eastern Australia. The details of the discovery, published in the journal Nature, suggest that the chain runs from Cape Hillsborough on the central Queensland coast, south-west through central New South Wales to Cosgrove in Victoria.

"This volcanic chain was created over the past 33 million years, as Australia moved north-northeast over a mantle plume hotspot which we believe is now located in Bass Strait," said Dr Rhodri Davies of the Australian National University, the lead study author.

According to Davies, the Cosgrove hotspot track is three times as long as the famous Yellowstone hotspot track in North America. The research team says that the kind of volcanic activity shown by the volcanic chain is surprising since it occurs at a distance from the tectonic plate boundaries. At such boundaries, a majority of the volcanoes is present.

At the start of the study, the researchers tried to look for the 15 extinct volcanoes in eastern Australia. All of the once-existing volcanoes appeared to line up in a single chain of trek running from north to south. The researchers believe that the volcanoes formed in the thick Australian continent in the regions where the thin surface of the molten material was present for easy breakthrough.

"Now that we know there is a direct relationship between the volume and chemical composition of the magma and the thickness of the continent, we can go back and interpret the geological record better," explained study co-author Ian Campbell.

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