- 2 days ago
Deep beneath our feet lies a world we’ve barely begun to understand. Scientists have uncovered colossal mountain ranges buried 400 miles underground, formations that may even surpass Everest and completely change what we know about Earth’s interior. At the same time, hidden chambers, tunnels, and forgotten spaces reveal the dark mysteries of an underground city in Scotland, a place layered with history and secrets lost to time. Animation is created by Bright Side.
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Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV
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For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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00:00There are many miles of undiscovered areas beneath the crust we can't even come close to.
00:06Scientists found what appears to be underground mountains buried inside the mantle.
00:11Our planet is divided into three layers, the crust, the mantle, and the core.
00:17The crust is where 8 billion people, trillions of trees, and millions of animals live and thrive.
00:23There are also different types of crust in the land and the ocean.
00:27The oceanic crust contains unique rocks and is denser than the land crust.
00:33We all see how the Earth is divided and color-coded to show the crust, mantle, and core in textbooks.
00:40But there are also special layers in between that not everyone talks about.
00:45The mantle is divided into the upper and lower part, which is the transition zone.
00:51Since the mantle acts as the geological recycling center, the plate tectonics don't only move side to side, but up and down.
01:00It's actually why all the volcanoes appeared.
01:03The magma spews out to the surface or even underwater and then sinks back down and repeats.
01:10The transitions go down 250 miles and then 410 miles.
01:15And in this bottom layer, scientists keep discovering the hidden landscapes.
01:20The mountains in the mantle are more rugged and much larger than the ones on the crust.
01:26Scientists found a mountain range with peaks higher than Mount Everest.
01:30Some of them are as high as 600 miles.
01:34When the continents were still landlocked together, there may have been some hidden lands now underwater.
01:40Theories suggest that Iceland used to be part of a larger microcontinent, Icelandia, which connected present-day Iceland with Greenland and Scandinavia.
01:51The idea digs even deeper to a greater Icelandia, which includes Britain.
01:56But after the split, these bigger lands sunk with everything in it.
02:01There are also theories about New Zealand being part of Zealandia, a hidden microcontinent within the same region.
02:08So it could be that these mountains used to be part of old Earth that are underground over the billions of years of natural occurrences.
02:17But still, it isn't very likely.
02:21One theory is that these underground mountain ranges could be leftover slabs of rock that descended from the surface to the transition zone from the moving of the tectonic plates.
02:30As they sink, the large pieces break down into smaller ones.
02:35And as they compile over the millions of years, they form what appears to be underground mountains.
02:42Since the mantle is the geologic recycling zone, it's likely that the rocks down there used to be part of the surface.
02:50They weren't large pieces of land that got hidden, just like dogs hide bones in the garden.
02:55But it takes way more time to hide mountains.
03:00Some parts of the mantle appear to be smooth, while others aren't so much.
03:04The parts that have a cluster of rocks could contain hidden elements in the underground mountains.
03:10The smoother parts don't have much seismic or volcanic activity, while the rough parts do.
03:15The best way to study those underground landscapes is to wait for an earthquake or a volcano eruption to happen.
03:23Seismologists can observe the Earth's interior with special scanners, just like doctors use ultrasound to examine a patient.
03:30They can even see minor details, and not huge chunks of rocks.
03:35A strong enough earthquake can send shockwaves to the Earth's interior, even through the core and back up to the surface.
03:42Depending on where they occur, seismologists can observe and study the intensity of the waves as they move back and forth.
03:50On smooth rocks, the waves can travel in a straight line, but once they reach a rough area, the waves tend to scatter.
03:57The temperature and composition of the materials can make the waves move faster or slower.
04:02But this info isn't exactly accurate, and won't contribute a lot to the actual data of the underground mountains.
04:09So, by analyzing the scattered waves on ships, and utilizing the Earth's magnetic field, scientists can figure out everything they need to know.
04:19But these studies are only good enough to figure out the interior in today's state, not how the Earth changed over the past 4.5 billion years.
04:28However, scientists are certain that mantle material still dates back to the beginning of Earth's original formation.
04:35The question, why not just dig a hole to the center of the Earth and see what's going on down there, might seem logical.
04:43The deepest hole humans have dug so far is the Kola Deep Borehole in the Russian Arctic that goes more than 40,000 feet deep.
04:51The locals claim they can actually hear screaming coming from below.
04:55It took almost 20 years to drill as far as they went, but it's literally merely scratching the surface of what's underneath.
05:02They dug about one-third of the crust, which is only 0.2% to the center of the Earth.
05:09Getting there is beyond us, just like trying to reach the Sun.
05:14No human can handle the amount of pressure down there.
05:17Going down the Mariana Trench, the Earth's deepest point requires special gear to withstand all the immense pressure.
05:25It'll cost a fortune to build that tech to get us to the center of our planet.
05:29Evidence of diamonds buried deep in Brazil shows that everything we do on the crust's surface can affect things miles below, even towards the mantle.
05:40Scientists dug up six diamonds that could hold tiny mineral grains.
05:44As they're called in the mineral world, these inclusions have a chemistry composition where they originated deep in the Earth.
05:51Typical diamonds are formed at depths less than 125 miles in the upper mantle, where it's extremely hot.
05:58The high pressure and boiling temperature down-crystallizes carbon and creates diamonds.
06:04But humans can't dig all the way down there.
06:06They mine them by detecting where a deep volcanic eruption happened that expelled these diamonds to the surface.
06:13These eruptions occurred millions of years ago, when dinosaurs used to rule the Earth.
06:18They shot out the diamonds that were in the mantle and are now embedded within the cooled-down volcanic material.
06:24That's where people mine them.
06:26But these special diamonds found in Brazil originated from a much deeper point than usual,
06:32which can further help scientists study the depths of the Earth.
06:35They can extract these inclusions and analyze them in a lab to tell where exactly these minerals come from.
06:42In the lab, scientists study inclusions, each just 15 to 40 microns wide, less than a quarter width of a human hair.
06:51They found out that they contained many types of minerals found in volcanic rock on the surface.
06:57The carbon composition of the magma from the surface is much different than the ones deep in the Earth.
07:02What's crazy is that these diamonds with special inclusions can only be found 435 miles in the lower mantle.
07:10With only a few samples of them found, we don't know what else lies beneath us.
07:16It's possible that those mountain ranges underground, taller than Mount Everest, can have traces of diamonds all around,
07:23which would prompt excavators to dig them up and saturate the market with them.
07:27These diamonds are less flawed than the usual ones and might even come in many sizes.
07:33It's possible to see diamonds as large as a car or as small as a grain of rice.
07:38There might even be new diamonds with different chemical compositions than the ones we find near the surface.
07:44The largest diamond in the world is the cullinan, which can fit in the palm of your hand.
07:50It weighs around 1.3 pounds and is 3,100 carats.
07:54It was found in 1905 in South Africa.
07:58For anything to exist on Earth, you need carbon.
08:02In a nutshell, the carbon cycle is when plants and algae release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
08:08or dissolved in water through photosynthesis.
08:11It's converted into carbohydrates and stored as fat.
08:15Later on, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere through breathing,
08:19which the plants benefit from, and the cycle goes on.
08:22Scientists claim that there might even be a carbon cycle in Earth's interior.
08:28The oceanic crust has a lot of carbon sediment that could mix with the upper and lower mantle layer.
08:34But there still isn't enough evidence to support this.
08:37The deep diamonds might be the key to popping open that theory.
08:41Only time will tell.
08:42So, you've just finished your sightseeing tour of Edinburgh, Scotland, or Scotland.
08:49It lasted just under an hour, and you're hungry for more.
08:53You ask your guide if there's anything else to see,
08:56and they start talking about a mysterious underground city.
09:00You ask how long it takes to get there, and you're shocked by the guide's answer.
09:04You're standing on it.
09:06It's right under your feet.
09:07Southbridge?
09:09But you were just there, and didn't notice a giant arrow pointing down.
09:13Hmm.
09:14So, this is where the mystery starts.
09:17The story begins in the mid-1700s.
09:20The Scottish capital wasn't as big as it is today.
09:24Only 60,000 people lived around Edinburgh Castle.
09:27All of them were packed inside medieval walls.
09:30And they say today's cities are overpopulated.
09:32Get a load of the living conditions back then.
09:36The buildings were tall, so there was little natural light.
09:39Some houses had 14 stories.
09:41Cows walked the narrow, winding streets, and left stuff.
09:45Things were so bad, that the famous English writer Daniel Defoe noted,
09:50I believe that in no city in the world, so many people have so little room.
09:55Yep, that's the guy who wrote Robinson Crusoe.
09:58Well, something just had to be done.
10:01The solution was to build two long bridges to the north and to the south of the city.
10:07The names they gave the bridges were more descriptive than colorful.
10:11The bridge to the north was completed first.
10:14In 1785, construction on the second bridge got underway.
10:18It was going to connect the main pedestrian street in the north
10:21with the university buildings in the south of Edinburgh.
10:24But don't think of this construction as a modern bridge over a river.
10:29It was more of a viaduct.
10:31A type of bridge that connects two hills across a valley.
10:34The word viaduct comes from Latin, as Romans were pioneers in building these structures.
10:40Their capital was built on seven hills.
10:43And just to be copycats, Edinburgh also straddled seven major hills.
10:48Only two are visible today because the city has been built up.
10:51Now, back in the 18th century, the construction of the south bridge was a remarkable feat of engineering.
10:58It took the builders only three years to complete it.
11:02Nineteen stone arches spanned a chasm that was 31 feet at its deepest point.
11:07And the length?
11:09Over a thousand feet.
11:10Impressive even for today's standards.
11:12But what does a two-and-a-half-century-old viaduct have to do with an underground city?
11:19Well, it is the city.
11:21You see, they designed Southbridge to be hollow on the inside.
11:25As you walk along this street today, there is actually a huge human-made cave beneath your feet.
11:31The popular name for this set of chambers is the Edinburgh Vaults.
11:39But what was the purpose of this space?
11:41And is there something or someone there now?
11:44Well, let's take it one step at a time.
11:47The builder's original intention was for these vaults to serve as merchant shops.
11:52At first, it worked out fine.
11:54Merchants used a total of 120 vaults as shops and warehouses.
11:58There were workshops, cobblers, and taverns.
12:02But as time went by, a major design flaw came to light.
12:07The stone was leaking, and the vaults were damp all the time.
12:11There was even flooding.
12:13The builders forgot to waterproof the structure.
12:16The merchants feared the water would damage their precious goods.
12:20After just a couple of years, the first tenants started moving out.
12:25Once legal trade moved away from the vaults,
12:28the city's poor moved in.
12:30And not only them, but all sorts of shady characters.
12:35Historians don't know much about this period, since there are no written records.
12:40But even the squatters had to leave soon.
12:42If you couldn't do business in these vaults, how could you live in them?
12:46It was damp and cold, and there was no ventilation, sanitation, or natural light.
12:52It really stung.
12:52Every real estate agent's worst nightmare.
12:56Just 30 years after their completion, the Southbridge vaults were abandoned once and for all.
13:03But at a street level, business was as usual.
13:07The officials decided to fill the vaults with rubble for security purposes.
13:12Buried and forgotten, the memory of a once teeming merchant quarter of Edinburgh
13:16slowly faded from people's minds.
13:19Now, this is where the story gets a bit weird.
13:22During the 1980s, a Scottish rugby player accidentally found a tunnel leading into the vaults.
13:28The athlete didn't waste any time and started excavating the vaults with the help of his son.
13:34Several tons of rubble, and a decade later, the Southbridge vaults had been restored to their former glory, so to speak.
13:42They were again dark and damp, as they were back in the 1700s.
13:47There were many interesting finds in this underground city.
13:51The vaults were littered with oyster shells,
13:54which were the standard diet for a working-class resident of Edinburgh at the time.
13:58Other finds, such as shoes and empty bottles,
14:02suggested that people actually lived in these claustrophobic vaults.
14:06Think of this the next time you see someone trying to rent their garage as an apartment.
14:11So, your guide was right.
14:13There really is a hidden city under the streets of Edinburgh.
14:17Well, at least one street.
14:19You have now gone down from the main pedestrian street into Cowgate.
14:23You look up, and there it is, the only visible arch of the once-impressive bridge.
14:29You are now searching online to book a tour of the vaults.
14:32You just have to see this place with your own eyes.
14:35But the Scottish capital isn't the only city with a mysterious underground.
14:41The historic region of Cappadocia in central Turkey
14:44hides no less than 36 cities beneath the ground.
14:48The biggest and the most impressive one wasn't discovered until 1963.
14:54It was built during the Byzantine era to protect the local population from invaders.
14:59We have similar structures made out of concrete in our cities,
15:02but the level of the Turkish underground city is really impressive.
15:06There are several levels, like in a multi-story car garage.
15:10The caves and tunnels lie 197 feet underground.
15:14That's two-thirds of the Statue of Liberty's height.
15:18The city could house 20,000 people at any given time,
15:21complete with livestock and food.
15:23Mmm, the smell.
15:25Anyway, 20,000 is the average attendance at Major League Soccer matches today.
15:30You might want to add a field trip to one of these places the next time you go to Turkey.
15:36Most of these cities in Cappadocia can be found in rural areas.
15:40Makes sense, right?
15:41After all, they were dug out as hiding places.
15:44But in Europe, there is one city whose underground labyrinth resembles the vaults of Edinburgh.
15:51You've probably heard of Pilsen in the Czech Republic.
15:54But hold on a second.
15:55This isn't going to be a story of the most famous local product.
15:59Something brewed, perhaps?
16:01It's the story of a medieval city that survived underneath the streets of Pilsen.
16:06Water wells, cellars, and passageways stretch for more than 12 miles.
16:11Merchants and craftspeople use Pilsen's historical underground for storage.
16:16Water, food, ice, you name it.
16:19The waterworks are pretty impressive.
16:21Historians estimate that 360 wells are located under Pilsen's historical town center.
16:26In times of instability, the passageways served as safe havens for the locals.
16:32They definitely didn't go thirsty down there.
16:36Today, most tourists visit these mysterious underground cities.
16:41But in Canada, there's one where people live and work.
16:45The construction of Montreal's underground city began in 1962.
16:50The initial idea was to shelter traffic.
16:54That's a nice way to say that city officials were building a metro station.
16:58The idea caught on, and the project expanded.
17:01Now, it's a real-life urban maze hidden under the downtown area.
17:06Need a place to stay?
17:07There are hotels down there.
17:09Want to grab a bite?
17:11Step into one of the underground restaurants.
17:13Multiple shops, a library, cinemas.
17:16The list is long.
17:17There are even residential complexes.
17:21But how can people live under the ground?
17:23Simple.
17:25Although the city itself lies beneath the earth, the access points are at ground level.
17:30You can enter the 20-mile-long tunnel network at more than 120 places.
17:35Oh, that's another place down under.
17:38Oops, sorry, Australia.
17:41That's it for today.
17:42So hey, if you pacified your curiosity,
17:44then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
17:47Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.
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