On Oct. 16, 2001, a University of California, Santa Barbara, news release announced that an island submerged for more than 13,000 years had been discovered beneath the ocean’s surface about halfway between the Santa Barbara Harbor and one of the existing Santa Barbara Channel Islands by Edward A. Keller, professor of geological sciences and environmental studies at UC Santa Barbara. The island is bordered by two major earthquake faults, one of which is capable of producing a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and a tsunami.
Not far from the underwater island are pockets of natural gas that could pose hazards to passing ships if they erupt, Keller said.
He added: “When these bubbles burst, which we think are relatively rare events, they send huge amounts of methane into the ocean. A dozen craters in the area suggest that gas blowouts may have occurred in the past.”
Isla Calafia, as Keller has named it, lies under 300 feet of water on the highest part of a huge underwater ridge that extends from Point Conception to the north and becomes part of South Mountain near Ventura to the east. It is about 31 miles in length and three miles wide and rises about 660 feet from the bottom of the channel.
Keller made the discovery while studying high-resolution topological maps of the channel floor to better understand earthquake hazards in the area.
“The island shows signs of coastal erosion, had sea cliffs that were 30 feet high and was flat,” Keller said.
The entire news release is at www.instadv.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=593.
— Ruth E. Case, Carpinteria
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