Environment

Enormous Craters Blasted in Seafloor by Nuclear Bombs Mapped for the First Time

Today, all seems quiet in the remote Bikini Atoll, a chain of coral reef islands in the central Pacific. But more than 70 years ago, this region's seafloor was rocked by powerful atomic bombs detonated by the U.S. Army.

For the first time, scientists have released remarkably detailed maps of this pockmarked seabed, revealing two truly massive craters. This new map shows that the seabed is still scarred by the 22 bombs detonated at Bikini Atoll between 1946 and 1958.

At the time of the tests, comedian Bob Hope joked grimly: "As soon as the war ended, we found the one spot on Earth that had been untouched by war and blew it to hell."