The world’s longest chain of volcanoes on a single continent has been discovered in Australia.

The 1,240 miles long chain spans most of eastern Australia from the north at the edge of the Great Barrier Reef to the island of Tasmania in the south.

“We realized that the same hotspot had caused volcanoes in the Whitsundays and the central Victoria region, and also some rare features in New South Wales, roughly halfway between them,” said Dr. Rhodri Daviesfrom the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences.

“The track is nearly three times the length of the famous Yellowstone hotspot track on the North American continent.”

The scientists used satellite images and NASA topography models which allowed them to discover how material usually found in a volcanic center tracked across the nation.  The team then visited new sites for potential new volcanoes to confirm their findings.

“This technique has already helped to uncover a lot more volcanoes in the area,” lead researcher and graduate student Julie Boyce told Live Science in an email. “As part of my ongoing research, I have found another 20 probable small eruption centers. I haven’t driven out to visit most of them yet, though.”

The scientist admitted that there have been no eruptions in the last 5,500 years but still consider the area an “active region” because of emissions of carbon dioxide indicating magma trying to come to the surface.