A 2022 expedition to a submarine ridge situated north of the Hawaiian archipelago yielded an unexpected discovery: an antiquated, desiccated lakebed adorned with what resembles a pathway constructed of yellow bricks.
The research vessel Nautilus documented this peculiar landscape while conducting a survey of the Liliʻuokalani ridge within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM).
The PMNM stands as one of the planet’s most extensive marine protected zones, surpassing the combined area of all U.S. national parks, yet explorations have so far encompassed merely approximately three percent of its ocean floor.
Scientists affiliated with the Ocean Exploration Trust are actively expanding our comprehension of this submerged wilderness, located more than 3,000 meters (9,843 feet) beneath the ocean’s surface. A remarkable aspect of their work is that the exploration process is publicly accessible.
A compilation video showcasing key moments from the expedition, disseminated on YouTube in April 2022, captures the precise instant when the crew operating the deep-sea submersible encountered what seemed to be a pathway reminiscent of the famed Wizard of Oz route.
“It’s the road to Atlantis,” a voice from the radio transmission can be heard declaring.
“The yellow brick road?” a second participant questions.
“This is quite peculiar,” another team member remarks.
“Are you jesting? This is extraordinary.”
Despite its position under approximately one thousand meters of water, the lakebed discovered by the research team atop the Nootka seamount presented a surprisingly arid appearance.
The geological formation has been identified as “a fractured expanse of hyaloclastite rock (a type of volcanic material formed during energetic eruptions that results in numerous rock fragments accumulating on the seabed).”
During the expedition’s communication, the team noted that the substrate bore a resemblance to a “baked crust” that could potentially be dislodged.
In a specific localized area, the volcanic bedrock has undergone fracturing in a manner that bears a striking likeness to meticulously laid bricks.
“The distinctive orthogonal fractures are likely a consequence of thermal stress incurred during repeated heating and cooling cycles from multiple volcanic events at this thermally altered margin,” an accompanying caption on the YouTube video explains.
Oceans constitute the predominant feature of Earth’s surface, and a 2025 study highlighted the limited extent of human visual exploration of our planet’s vastest marine environment’s floor.
Researchers from the non-profit Ocean Discovery League, in collaboration with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Boston University, performed an analysis to quantify the proportion of the seafloor that has been mapped to date, utilizing publicly accessible datasets.
Over the entire 67-year period of documented deep-sea expeditions, it appears that humankind has visually surveyed between 0.0006% and 0.001% of the deep seafloor.
This higher end of the estimate corresponds to an area of just 3,823 square kilometers (1,476 square miles), a region slightly larger than Rhode Island, the smallest U.S. state, or approximately one-tenth the size of Belgium.
Much like the deep seafloor itself, certain phenomena require direct observation to be fully appreciated and understood.
At first inspection, the “yellow brick road” effect observed along the Liliʻuokalani Ridge can easily be perceived as an entryway to an extraordinary new realm. In a sense, this perception is not entirely inaccurate.
This remarkable geological feature signifies that our investigative efforts are progressing in an appropriate direction, potentially leading to significant advancements in our knowledge of Earth’s concealed geological structures.
“Our survey of this previously uncharted territory is facilitating researchers’ in-depth examination of the life that exists on and within the rocky inclines of these profound, ancient underwater mountains,” stated the researchers from the Ocean Exploration Trust.
Further details regarding the 2022 E/V Nautilus expedition can be accessed here.
