--- title: Underwater 'Lost City' is Actually a Natural Phenomenon description: Thought to be made by ancient Greeks, the site is actually the world of microbes. canonical: https://time.com/4356802/underwater-lost-city-geological-phenomenon/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-03T18:57:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:30.570Z article:section: Science og:title: This Underwater 'Lost City' is Actually a Natural Phenomenon og:description: Thought to be made by ancient Greeks, the site is actually the world of microbes og:url: https://time.com/4356802/underwater-lost-city-geological-phenomenon/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Underwater 'Lost City' is Actually a Natural Phenomenon twitter:description: Thought to be made by ancient Greeks, the site is actually the world of microbes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Underwater 'Lost City' Is Actually a Natural Phenomenon > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Remotely Operated Vehicles: Unsung Underwater Heroes [Watch (HLS stream): Remotely Operated Vehicles: Unsung Underwater Heroes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tGrJOxoR.m3u8) (3:42)  _Published 2010-08-05. Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV's) have evolved from being "flying eyeballs" to serving crucial roles in the deep sea, from scientific discovery to the Deepwater Horizon oil leak_ by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jun 3, 2016 6:57 PM UTC by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jun 3, 2016 6:57 PM UTC Underwater structures once thought to be remnants of an ancient civilization were actually created by nature, according to [a recent study](https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/-/underwater-lost-city-found-to-be-geological-formation). First discovered by snorkelers off the coast of the Greek island Zakynthos, the “lost city” appeared to be a [long-forgotten civilization outpost](http://time.com/3684054/lost-cities/?iid=sr-link4), but a study published in the journal _Marine and Petroleum Geology_ on Friday says the structures were created millions of years ago by a geological phenomenon. There were earlier clues, too, that what appeared to be paved floors, courtyards and colonnades were not what they seemed, according to lead researcher Julian Andrews. “There were what superficially looked like circular column bases, and paved floors, but mysteriously no other signs of life—such as pottery,” Andrews wrote in a statement. Andrews and his team analyzed the formations and realized that they were the work of [microbes](http://time.com/4207846/deodorant-antiperspirant-microorganisms/?iid=sr-link5), not ancient Greeks. “We investigated the site, which is between two and five meters under water, and found that it is actually a natural geologically occurring phenomenon,” said Andrews. “This kind of phenomenon is quite rare in shallow waters. Most similar discoveries tend to be many hundreds and often thousands of meters deep underwater.” ## Transcript The unsung heroes of the BP oil spill are robots and the people who control them. The underwater recovery effort at Deepwater Horizon requires skilled precise work. It's Remotely Operated Vehicles or ROVs that provide the eyes, ears and hands for humans who simply can't work in such deep waters. ROVs were developed in the 1980's. Engineer Andy Bowen says that back >> then, ROVs were very simple. >> In those days, the robots were, for the most part, not really capable of performing any work and they essentially were sort of termed " flying eyeballs ." >> Bowen helped develop the ROV, Jason Junior, which went inside the Titanic in 1986. It gave us those spectacular views of the grand staircase nearly 75 years after the ship's fateful collision with an iceberg. Over time, engineers saw the potential for them to perform work and they started developing ROVs with mechanical arms. This technology has led to accomplishments in commercial, military, and scientific operations. Bowen was the lead engineer of the Nereus which last year went down into the Marianas Trench, the deepest known part of the ocean. It took eight hours for the machine to reach a depth of nearly 7 miles. >> Think of Mt. Everest covered with a mile of sea water. >> We were elated as engineers but fairly shortly after reaching the sea floor and determining that the vehicle was actually functioning as we'd hoped. It was possible to look over to a scientist that was next to us and say, " What would you like to do ?" >> Whether the goal is science at 10, 000 meters or capping a well head a mile below, operating an ROV is way more complicated than a remote controlled car. Conditions at extreme depths are a challenge. The deeper you go, the higher the pressure, thousands of times more than at the surface. Currents create powerful drag so the machines take a lot of energy to manipulate. ROVs must be tethered to a vessel on the surface to receive commands. And that's where the operators, called Pilots, work. TIME talked to Ed Galloway, the Senior Project Manager for Oceaneering International, which provided ROVs working on Deepwater Horizon. >> He said that this marked the first time up to 10 to 15 ROVs worked and communicated with each other simultaneously. >> These guys were innovating, they were designing new tools, new techniques on the fly. And I think, you know, people should recognize that that really was an-- was-- has been an amazing display of a, you know, spirit, if you will, and the part of the folks that are engaged in the underwater operations. >> Many engineers hoped that >> oil companies invest more money into the development of ROVs and other technology, so that accidents like Deepwater Horizon don't happen in the first place, and if they do, that there are specialized ROVs ready to respond. >> It's about preparing for the worst and being willing to pay the price for developing those capabilities so that-- so that- if, heaven forbids, such a thing happens again, there have a set of tools and >> techniques that been tested and developed that can deal with a successful interventions. >> For TIME video, I'm Valerie Lapinski. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4356802/underwater-lost-city-geological-phenomenon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4356802/underwater-lost-city-geological-phenomenon/"},"headline":"This Underwater 'Lost City' Is Actually a Natural Phenomenon","datePublished":"2016-06-03T18:57:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:55:30.570Z","description":"Thought to be made by ancient Greeks, the site is actually the world of microbes","url":"https://time.com/4356802/underwater-lost-city-geological-phenomenon/","keywords":["Oceans","Greece","microbes"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/oceans/","name":"Oceans"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4356802/underwater-lost-city-geological-phenomenon/","name":"This Underwater 'Lost City' Is Actually a Natural Phenomenon"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Remotely Operated Vehicles: Unsung Underwater Heroes","description":"Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV's) have evolved from being \"flying eyeballs\" to serving crucial roles in the deep sea, from scientific discovery to the Deepwater Horizon oil leak","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/tGrJOxoR/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2010-08-05T22:46:59.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tGrJOxoR.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4356802/underwater-lost-city-geological-phenomenon/","duration":"PT3M42S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4356802/underwater-lost-city-geological-phenomenon/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```