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Geology of Atlantis

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Qoais
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« on: July 22, 2010, 10:30:43 pm »

Hi Lonestar
I was recently in conversation with a geologist about this plate tectonic business because I too, wondered if the Azores could be a remnant, even though Plato said that all that remain was shoals of mud.  Now he also said the mountains were the most high and beautiful of anywhere, so comparing them to some of the tallest mountains, they would be a mile high.  They had to sink at least a mile then, to leave only shoals of mud.

Anyway, I thought you might be interested in my conversation with the geologist so I'll paste our chat here for your perusal Cheesy

Me:
We have the Azores islands in the Atlantic and we have Iceland which is an island in the Atlantic, and we supposedly have the mid Atlantic ridge continually expanding.

So - how does this expanding ridge affect these islands?

I've been reading where some mountains have "roots", so would some islands have roots, since they have mountains on, and hold steady, and some don't have roots and would be pulled apart or pushed about, by the expanding ridge?

The way I see it, in my own mind, and I know most think I'm a few bricks short a load, is that the earth is like an washing machine. One of the ones with an agitator in them. Have you watched a load of clothes being washed in one? At the centre, closest to the agitator, the clothes are pulled down into the water, and a short time later, they come up again along the outer edges of the tub. The washing machine stays the same size, but the movement of the agitator causes this subduction at the centre.

So what I'd like to know is, if the ridge is continually expanding, it must have done so from the beginning of earth, since she was always hot in the middle and hasn't cooled yet, and so if that's the case, there couldn't have been a pangea, but, if there WAS a pangea, and the land mass broke up, and a bit was left as an island in the Atlantic, what would happen to that island? Would she be split apart by the ever expanding ridge, or would she be pushed in the direction of expansion on whichever side of the ridge she was located in the first place? Like if say, an island was located to the East of the ridge originally, would it get pushed toward Europe and Africa? Or, ...........what?

Him:

Your "washing machine" analogy is not entirely incorrect, but remember that this activity (subduction, etc.) occurs within the comparatively thin crust.

It so happens that the two examples mentioned (Azores, Iceland) are the result of magma (volcanic) eruptions from the "cracks" in tectonic plates. The Azores lie at the juncture of the North American, Eurasian, and African plates and actually form a "micro-plate". Iceland lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (juncture of the Eurasian and North American plates).
They are not in motion per se, but are eruptions resulting from plate collision/subduction/separation. Not unlike Hawaii, etc. Volcanic islands forming over "hot spots".

In the case of the Azores, the oldest island (Santa Maria) dates back some 7 million, sank, and reappeared. The newest island dates back some 300 thousand. Note time-line.

It regards to time-line - Plate movement in the North Atlantic is measured to be ~ 1 cm/yr (2.54 cm = 1 inch). In other areas of the planet, movement has been measured at ~1-10 cm/yr. You know how I am about time-lines. These factors truly need to be put into perspective, i.e., human time frame as opposed to geologic.

It should also be noted that current research indicates that there may have been at least two super-continents prior to Pangea (Rodinea and Gondwana).

Link to some excellent info:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/09/080905-pangaea-suction.html

Me:

 If there HAD been a large island in the Atlantic, could it have disappeared without a trace through the movement of the plates? It seems to me, it would have to be in a major subduction zone, and the whole island would have to be sucked down without a trace, or it was pushed up so high, when the plates collided, there would be huge mountains where the island used to be.

We DO have the Azores and of course there are those who are arguing that they ARE the remnants of Alantis, but if there are, they have to be sitting on an area that would become the biggest sink hole in history, that the rest of the island fell into. Because to me, if they are on a spot where the plates meet, the land would be pushed up and there would be something more than islands there.

Him:

Anyone taking the time (and computer power) to pull up bathymetric maps of the Atlantic will find that there is no indication of a submerged continent. Sorry, just isn't there.

Him:

Any large "island" in the Atlantic would be the result of the known plate separation and volcanic "eruption" from the "crack", resulting in the formation of such land-forms as the Azores. As the North American plate moves westward and collides with the Pacific plate, we have subduction. This does not appear to be the case with the mid-Atlantic Ridge. Basically, the North American plate is moving west, colliding with the Pacific plate, which is again colliding with the Eurasian plate, hence the Pacific "Ring of Fire". This results in the volcanism/earthquakes along the west coast (your neck of the woods). This is admittedly simplified and does not fully encompass more broadly global movements. For a qualified brief on the mid-Atlantic ridge;

http://www.whoi.edu/...4&archives=true

To get back to the Azores; The Azores are of totally volcanic origin and do have quite a "violent" history.

http://www.volcano.s...n.cfm?rnum=1802
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Logic rules.

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