It took years of painfully detailed study to verify that an
ancient and dormant supervolcano lies beneath Hong Kong. The
High Island Supervolcano's existence was discovered as a by-
product of the government's surveying work in geological
mapping, geochemistry, geophysics and dating of rocks conducted
by the Hong Kong Geological Survey. Staff had a hazy idea in
2008 that a supervolcano lay underneath the geoparks in Sai Kung
but it took a number of years to confirm the discovery and then
publish the findings in a US geophysical journal. "This
discovery was the result of years of very detailed, meticulous
surveying work and very careful dating of the rocks," said
geological survey head Roderick Sewell. "It took a very long
time to piece everything together into a story. "It's a long
road to discovery but when you suddenly get the `aha! moment,'
it makes it all worthwhile." The progressively deeper parts of
the supervolcano extend from Sai Kung toward Kowloon and Hong
Kong Island, revealing a complex plumbing sy