• A hidden force beneath the Atlantic ripped open a 500 kilometer canyon A hidden mantle plume helped the Atlantic seafloor rip open, creating an underwater canyon system bigger than the Grand Canyon. • On land, dramatic canyons such as the Grand Canyon are carved over time by flowing rivers. • The ocean does not have rivers capable of cutting into rock on that scale. • Even so, the seafloor hosts enormous features that surpass the size of the largest land canyons. • About 1,000 kilometers off the coast of Portugal lies one of the most striking examples. • Known as the King’s Trough Complex, this vast underwater structure stretches roughly 500 kilometers and includes a series of parallel trenches and deep basins.

Article Summaries:

  • Scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel have revealed that a deep‑mantle plume and shifting tectonic plates created the King’s Trough Complex, a 500‑kilometre underwater canyon system off Portugal. The study, published in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, shows that between 37 and 24 million years ago a temporary plate boundary between Europe and Africa moved through the area, pulling apart a crust that had already thickened and heated from a mantle plume-an early offshoot of the Azores plume. This pre‑existing weakness guided the rifting, forming the canyon’s parallel trenches and deep basins before the boundary shifted southward. The findings illustrate how deep mantle activity can dictate where major seafloor fractures develop.
  • A hidden force beneath the Atlantic ripped open a 500 kilometer canyon A hidden mantle plume helped the Atlantic seafloor rip open, creating an underwater canyon system bigger than the Grand Canyon. - Date: - February 23, 2026 - Source: - Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR) - Summary: - Far beneath the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,000 kilometers off Portugalâs coast, lies a colossal underwater canyon system that dwarfs even the Grand Canyon. Known as the Kingâs Trough Complex, this 500-kilometer stretch of trenches and deep basins formed not from rushing water, but from dramatic tecto

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