The seabed where the newly discovered seamount, named Los Atlantes Mountains, is located. (Source: IGME-CSIC)

“This could be the origin of the Atlantis legend,” Luis Somoza, head of a project studying volcanic activity off the Canary Islands in Spain, told Live Science .

Since the story was told by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato more than 2,300 years ago, Atlantis has remained a controversial topic in the scientific community. The existence of this mysterious lost island remains a question mark.

Atlantis, as described by Plato, was a large island that existed about 9,000 years before his time. It had favorable conditions in both weather and terrain. Thanks to that, the city of Atlantis had a remarkable civilization with incredible development. The army of Atlantis was extremely powerful, especially in its ability to fight at sea. They occupied many large areas of other countries.

Despite its vast area and highly developed civilization, the end of Atlantis was very sudden and happened quickly. In just one night, around 9600 BC, a great flood accompanied by a terrible earthquake caused the island of Atlantis to sink to the bottom of the ocean and disappear forever.

The disappearance without a trace of a large citadel and its civilization has raised many questions for researchers.

Recently, Luis Somoza's team discovered islands located on an underwater mountain, about 2.3 kilometers below the ocean's surface. These islands have up to three craters that are no longer active.

Scientists named the newly discovered mountain Los Atlantes, after the legendary story told by philosopher Plato about the island of Atlantis, which was sunk by the gods to the bottom of the ocean as punishment for the immorality of its inhabitants.

“They were islands in the past and they sank, as the legend of Atlantis tells us,” said Mr Somoza, a geologist at the Spanish Institute of Geology and Mining (IGME-CSIC).

Scientists found Los Atlantes while exploring the seabed off the east coast of Lanzarote, the easternmost of the Canary Islands, using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) at depths of between 100 and 2,500 metres. The dive was part of the IGME-CSIC Atlantis project, which aims to better understand the activity of underwater volcanoes.

Los Atlantes may have formed between 56 million and 34 million years ago. When the volcanoes stopped erupting, the lava solidified, causing the islands to sink into the ocean.

“We have identified beaches, cliffs and sand dunes in some parts of the seamount,” Mr Somoza said, adding that the islands are still sinking.

During the last ice age, when sea levels were much lower than they are today, dormant volcanoes were once islands. “These islands may have been home to wildlife,” he said. “When sea levels rose at the end of the ice age, the islands sank back below the surface.”

The team will analyze rock samples collected from Los Atlantes to determine the age of the volcano and when the islands began to sink. They also plan to return to the underwater volcano in the Canary Islands on an expedition next year.