Godzilla Megamullion Added to IUGS 100 Geological Heritage Sites List
The Japan Coast Guard announced that the massive underwater formation, discovered during a 2001 survey, received international geological heritage status.
The Japan Coast Guard announced on Friday that the "Godzilla Megamullion" was selected for the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) list of 100 Geological Heritage Sites, as reported by adnkronos.com. The seafloor formation was originally discovered in 2001 during continental shelf survey operations adnkronos.com
adnkronos.comadnkronos.comOpen source ↗. This designation occurred during the third round of selections conducted by the international geological organization.
Structural Dimensions
The site is situated southeast of the Tokyo-administered Pacific island of Okinotorishima on the Philippine Sea plate. A megamullion is a dome-shaped seafloor feature that forms when tectonic fault activity linked with seafloor spreading exposes mantle rocks directly onto the ocean floor. The Godzilla Megamullion measures approximately 125 kilometers in length and 55 kilometers in width, making it roughly 10 times larger than standard megamullions. Due to these dimensions, researchers consider it the largest structure of its type identified to date. The formation received its name after the monster Godzilla and was internationally registered under this title in 2021.
Scientific Research
Investigations of the formation led by Japanese researchers alongside international teams provided structural data regarding Earth's mantle and plate formation processes. The Japan Coast Guard stated that the site serves as a globally significant geological reference point for scientific study.
