Our planet is covered in mountains and ridges, deep caves and canyons – and for the most part, we take that for granted.

Sure they have a lot of wow-factor, but even when you visit these natural wonders, do you take even a moment to contemplate how they were formed?

For the majority of people, the answer is no. But luckily, there are researchers all over the world probing into how and why the Earth has formed how it has.

And according to a new study published in the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, one huge submarine canyon that lies 1,000 kilometers off the coast of Portugal has particularly fascinating origins.

Known as The King’s Trough Complex, the canyon is an awe-inspiring underwater series of trenches and basins, including one of the deepest points of the Atlantic Ocean.

But why has this complex formed in such a way – and why did it do so at the point in the ocean where it did?

According to the researchers, this was due to a fracture in the Earth’s crust at a historic plate boundary between Europe and Africa, over 24 million years ago, proving long-held suspicions, as Dr Antje Dürkefälden explained in a statement:

“Researchers have long suspected that tectonic processes – that is, movements of the Earth’s crust – played a central role in the formation of the King’s Trough. Our results now explain for the first time why this remarkable structure developed precisely at this location.”

But that wasn’t the end of the researchers’ findings. In fact, the unusual nature of this canyon complex was not just because of the rupture in the Earth’s crust; it was in part because, before the crust tore apart, the crust had been particularly thick because of mantle plume at the location – a rising of molten rock.

And this upwelling of material from the Earth’s mantle ultimately made the Trough what it is today, as researcher Dr Jörg Geldmacher continued:

“This thickened, heated crust may have made the region mechanically weaker, so that the plate boundary preferentially shifted here. When the plate boundary later moved further south towards the modern Azores, the formation of the King’s Trough also came to a halt.”

The King’s Trough Complex has been stable for a long time now, it’s magnificent structure evidence of how the Earth’s geophysics has pieced together the world we see today.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about why we should be worried about the leak in the bottom of the ocean.