Australian scientists have discovered mountains at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, similar to the kingdom of Mordor from the fantastic trilogy “The Lord of the Rings” by John Tolkien. Special attention of researchers was attracted by the giant caldera of an underwater volcano, called “The Eye of Sauron”. This was told by Tim O’Hara, a member of the expedition, in an article on The Conversation portal.
The discovery was made by the scientific vessel RV Investigator using a powerful sonar at a depth of 3100 meters. It turned out that the crater is surrounded by a 300-meter rim, resembling the eyelids of Sauron, and has a 300-meter cone-shaped peak (“pupil”) in the center.
Further scanning of the seabed revealed two more mountains: one smaller, covered with numerous volcanic cones, and the second, located further away with a flat top. Scientists also named them after the famous saga. The first was named after the main abode of Sauron, Barad-Dur (the Black Tower), the second was named after the mountains of Mordor, Ered Litvi (Ash Mountains).
In 2015, the New Horizons station found “Mordor” on Charon. It turned out that the north pole of the largest satellite of the dwarf planet Pluto is covered with a layer of dark dust. This area was named after the “black country” from the novel “The Lord of the Rings”.
