“New coral reefs" found in Australia

Scientists in Australia have reportedly discovered a series of 100,000-year-old coral reefs off the country’s northern coast – and are claiming that there are “undoubtedly more to be found”.

According to Sky News, the reefs, 60 miles off the coast in the Gulf of Carpentaria, have remained undiscovered for so long because they are more than 60 feet under water and cannot be detected on satellite images.

Peter Harris, of Geoscience Australia, which made the discovery, is quoted as saying: “The exciting part of all this is that is really highlights how little we know about the continental shelf around Australia.

"The water is very turbid and deep, and in a lot of places we can’t see the sea floor – there are undoubtedly more large areas of these kind of reefs in the waters of tropical Australia that we have not found yet.

"The thickness and wide distribution of the reefs point to a long history of reef growth extending, possibly, over the past 100,000 years or more.”

Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd www.newsfromabroad.com