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The Azores Islands: their Relationship to Atlantis

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Corissa
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« Reply #195 on: July 30, 2012, 12:21:23 am »

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« Reply #196 on: July 30, 2012, 12:21:49 am »

Atlantis - Sunk in a day and a night?
 
 
 Swift destruction.

A central feature of the Atlantis story is the rapidity of its demise. So swift was its destruction that Plato suggests it was gone in little more than a day and a night. But could this really have happened?
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« Reply #197 on: July 30, 2012, 12:22:31 am »


One terrible day and night.

The second major objection to the historical existence of Atlantis, is Plato's assertion that it vanished beneath the waves in "one terrible day and night!" After all, islands don't just disappear, least of all in a day and a night - or do they?

Until now this "day and a night" has proved an enormous stumbling block to the literal interpretation of Plato's account. To the critics this is the ultimate proof that makes the whole thing absurd. How could an island vanish so quickly? And why is Plato so sure that it did? Was it sheer ignorance, or did this island really submerge in little more than twenty four hours?

Ambiguity.

Over the years attempts to explain the mystery either as an allegorical reference, a full figurative interpretation, or as some arcane spiritual concept, all fall flat. Even more confusion stems from not knowing precisely what Plato meant us to believe. Nor are matters helped by the ambiguity of the relevant text. It says: "and in a single dreadful day and night all your fighting men (referring to Athens) were swallowed up by the Earth, and the island of Atlantis was similarly swallowed up by the sea and vanished."

Two Interpretations.

Here there are at least two interpretations. The first is that Plato gives an equal timescale of a "day and a night" to both the swallowing up of Athens and "similarly" Atlantis, which according to him then vanishes beneath the waves. The second interpretation is that the "day and a night" refer solely to the demise of Athens, whereas "similarly" refers to Atlantis only as it concerns its disappearance beneath the waves, and not the time scale involved. That is to say that it then sank gradually beneath the waves.

Of course gradual is a relative term. In the case of Atlantis we are talking of a phenomenal disaster and even if it's demise was not over the course of one day and night, Plato implies it was an event of astonishing rapidity.
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« Reply #198 on: July 30, 2012, 12:22:45 am »

Persuasive Theory.

One theorist who believed in the literal interpretation of "a single day and night", was the distinguished German scientist Otto Muck. With painstaking research Muck put together his own highly persuasive theory of how such a massive island could disappear almost overnight. He believed the answer lay in the treacherous geography of the area Atlantis once occupied!

If Plato's account is taken literally it occupied a position close to one of the most vulnerable areas of the Earth's crust. This was almost directly astride the Mid Atlantic Ridge - the Achilles tendon of the world, as many have called it ! Here in a chain of intense volcanic activity, the Earth's crust is dangerously thin. If anything like a plunging meteor were to rupture the crust anywhere along this ridge, it would trigger off a catastrophe capable of wiping out all life on the planet.

Massive Convulsion.

If this is indeed what happened to Atlantis, then the whole sea-bed surrounding the island would have erupted in a truly massive convulsion! It would be like a line of gunpowder running between barrels of dynamite. Huge clouds of steam would shoot skywards with red hot magma spewed across the surface of the sea. In geological terms it means that the delicate chain of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge would quite literally explode in a vast wall of flame stretching far above the sea. The Bible in its flood account speaks of the moment "when all the fountains of the great deep burst forth!"

It was Muck's contention that so much volcanic debris erupted skywards that it led to the creation of a huge magma depression. So huge in fact that Atlantis literally sank on it's base. Explains Muck: "And the forces of hell were let loose.....red hot magma shot up at terrific speed and mixed with the waters of the Atlantic. This created all the conditions for a submarine volcanic eruption of the greatest possible force. The fracture seam ( The North Atlantic Ridge) was torn apart. The bottom of the sea burst open to the north and to the south." Continues Muck: "A magma depression was created below the centre of the Atlantic basin .... and the magma level must have dropped by 2-2.5 miles."

Sinking Island.

Like a stricken warship Atlantis began to sink. Mucks exceptionally detailed calculations based on Plato's size of the island estimated that Atlantis would not only have begun sinking, but that it would have completely submerged within 24 hours. In other words just like Plato said it did! The author then goes on to complete his amazing hypothesis in the following manner: "The ocean waves rushed in, hissing and emitting clouds of steam, to their newly created sea bed. The previous day that bed had been a large island with high mountains and buildings. Today Atlantis lies some 2 miles lower, in the centre of the depression, right on the ancient fracture seam."
 
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« Reply #199 on: July 30, 2012, 12:23:14 am »

Atlantis - Part of a wider catastrophe.
 
 
 World-wide disaster.

We think of the demise of Atlantis as affecting just that island. In reality however this would have been a world-wide catastrophe - a disaster without parallel in human history.


 
Wider catastrophe.

Obviously the Atlantis disaster was part of a much wider catastrophe. Around Iceland in the North Atlantic there is a particularly strong indication of sudden inundation. The depth chart of the subsidence around the island illustrates this quite graphically. It reveals a dramatic sinking of a large area of land that seems to have occurred with amazing rapidity. There is no doubt that 14,000 years ago the geography of this region would have looked quite different. Iceland was then four times its present area, of which the Faroes, together with Beerenberg volcano on Jan Mayers island are all that remain of a once great land mass.

Twilight of the gods.

In Icelandic mythology we find a strange echo of these events in the Volluspa, a kind of poetic apocalypse that tells of a time when the sun, the moon and the stars were shaken from their places. Large portions of Norse mythology also speak of the immensely turbulent days of a great natural disaster, and influences of this folklore were later to pass into European consciousness through Wagners opera Goterdammerung - The Twilight of The Gods!

Major catastrophe.

The reality is that throughout most of the ancient world particularly forceful writings speak of a major catastrophe that arrives in the form of a flood. From Israel and Egypt through much of the western world and on into the Americas, as well as China and Mesopotamia, the idea of a world destroyed by flood is an ever present recollection. Moreover scientific evidence now offers evidence of some cataclysmic disaster with waves so high that they literally swept across the continents destroying all in its path.
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« Reply #200 on: July 30, 2012, 12:23:35 am »

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« Reply #201 on: July 30, 2012, 12:24:09 am »

Atlantis - Was it a gradual subsidence?
 
 
 Realistic theory?

One of the most prevalent theories concerning Atlantis was that it disappeared as part of a gradual subsidence. But is this a realistic theory and is there any evidence for it?
 


Gradual Subsidence.

Although Atlantis is said to have vanished beneath the waves in a relatively short time, there is evidence to indicate that some parts of the island took longer to submerge. Plato, and the Greek philosopher Aristotle, both agree that even in their day, the waters beyond the Straits of Gibraltar were unnavigable due to layers of very thick mud. The cause of this they believed was subsidence left behind from a sunken island.

Impenetrable Mud.

In the Timaeus and Critias Plato explains it as follows: "At that time, as we said, Atlantis was an island larger than Libya and Asia Minor combined, though it was subsequently overwhelmed by earthquakes and is the source of the impenetrable mud which prevents the free passage of those who sail out of the straits into the open sea."

In his book Meteorologica Aristotle also mentions "shallows due to mud" and Scylax of Caryanda likewise mentions a sea of thick mud just beyond the Pillars of Hercules. It seems that even as recently as 2300 years ago - which on the geological scale is barely an eye-blink - the Ocean beyond Gibraltar was unnavigable because of deposits of mud from a vanished island. Even today an examination of the sea bed at this point reveals an exceptionally high level of sedimentation.

Until now this was explained as the result of sediment carried by the powerful currents passing through the Straits of Gibraltar. Yet this would seem unlikely. The reason is that although the area around the Straits is relatively shallow, one does not need to progress far into the Mediterranean before encountering very deep waters. It means that sediment from the Mediterranean would be more likely to deposit itself against the rise of this slope, within the Mediterranean, rather than the Gulf Of Cadiz, outside it.

Other Evidence.

Similar evidence can be found further westwards. Around the island of Madeira we see a vast submerged chain of mountains named the Horseshoe Seamount. Southwards from here, and indeed throughout the whole of this area there is an enormous expanse of sedimential deposit covering wide portions of the surrounding sea-bed. The strange thing is there is nothing to account for this deposit - nothing that is, unless there was once a large area of land here that for some reason began to break apart and later submerged.

Wholesale submersion.

The sum total of this evidence implies that the Atlantis disaster may have been a much more recent affair than Plato is telling us. On the other hand perhaps the initial catastrophe, which destroyed Atlantis - or it's spiritual centre - was merely a precursor to the wholesale submersion of numerous other islands that once existed here. Their demise, like that of Atlantis was probably precipitated by the initial devastating catastrophe that could have led to a complete fragmentation of this entire chain of islands.

 
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« Reply #202 on: July 30, 2012, 12:24:19 am »

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« Reply #203 on: July 30, 2012, 12:24:33 am »

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« Reply #204 on: July 30, 2012, 12:25:20 am »

What if a Huge Asteroid Hits the Atlantic?

By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD

WASHINGTON -- If a huge asteroid crashes into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, say goodbye to Broadway, the beach house on Long Island and just about everything else on the East Coast as far inland as the foothills of the Appalachians.

The coastal lands would be devastated not by the actual impact, some 1,500 miles away, but by a relentless succession of tidal waves traveling at the speed of jet aircraft and towering much higher than the Empire State Building.

In the aftermath, a few hours later, the receding waters would leave almost nothing standing.

Though this may sound like the story line for Hollywood's next disaster movie, such a projected catastrophe has been churned out by computers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, a place in New Mexico that would remain high and dry. Scientists described the results of the computer simulations here Wednesday at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

Dr. Jack G. Hills, a Los Alamos geophysicist, said the tidal wave, or tsunami, generated by the asteroid's impact would be far more devastating than any earthquake, volcano or previously known flood in human history.

Coastlines in Europe would also be wiped out, particularly in Ireland, France, Portugal and Spain.

The simulations were conducted as part of studies at Los Alamos on the problems of detecting nearby asteroids that could endanger Earth and possibly knocking them off course with a nuclear missile. The laboratory was founded to develop nuclear weapons, but no such use of them for asteroid-defense has been authorized.

For the computer simulations, Hills, working with Dr. Charles Mader, a retired Los Alamos scientist and specialist in tsunamis, created models showing how impacts by asteroids of different sizes would generate tidal waves that, from previous experience, gain power as they reach offshore continental shelves. Models of coastal topography were included to show how far inland flooding was likely to occur.

The worst-cast simulation assumed the impact of a rocky asteroid three miles in diameter. It would lose little energy plunging through the atmosphere and would gouge out a crater on the Atlantic floor.

An asteroid about twice that size slammed into the Gulf of Mexico and Yucatan 65 million years ago, presumably causing global extinctions.

Within three hours, the simulations showed, tidal waves would deliver walls of water and a crash of debris to the East Coast, from New England through the Carolinas. The more gentle continental shelf off Florida should temper the effects on that state's coastline, except in the Miami area, which would be devastated.

Fortunately, asteroid impacts of that magnitude occur on an average only once every 10 million years. But the chance of a relatively small asteroid hitting the ocean is 2,000 or 3,000 times more likely. One that is 1,300 feet wide would wipe out the coasts on both sides of the Atlantic with a tsunami more than 300 feet high.

"Any asteroid over 600 feet in diameter, we have a real problem," Hills said.

The laboratory has begun comparable simulations of the effects of an asteroid in the Pacific on Hawaii and the West Coast.

The entire Los Angeles basin would be swamped.

"Our colleagues at Caltech in Pasadena might make it," Hills said, "but UCLA, no."

Tsunamis are usually caused by underwater earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. One of the worst on record began off the coast of Chile and produced waves of up to 15 feet as far away as Japan.

http://grapevine.abe.msstate.edu/classes/abe4803/models/sci-asteroid-disaster.html
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« Reply #205 on: July 30, 2012, 12:26:15 am »


USA showered by a watery comet ~11,000 years ago, ending the Golden Age of man in America.

Approximately 11,000 years ago a variety of animals went extinct across North America. These were mostly mammals larger than approximately 44 kg. Some of the animals that went extinct are well known (like sabre toothed cats, mammoths and mastodons). Others were less well known animals (like the short-faced skunk, giant sloth and the giant beaver). Some animals went extinct in North America but survived elsewhere (like horses and tapirs).

Before this extinction the diversity of large mammals in North America was similar to that of modern Africa. As a result of the extinction, relatively few large mammals are now found in North America.

The possibility that a comet destroyed the mega fauna and human population of North America is highly likely.

Carolina Bays - 11,000 year old Impact sites, caused by bullets of water from a disintegrating comet.

Direct evidence of a cataclysmic event around the time of the Clovis hunters of America.

The geological formation of the oval shaped depressions termed Carolina Bays, which number in total, 500,000 litter the SW corner of North America. Their orientation across the landscape is in a NW to SE direction, with earth piled up on the SE rim up to 25 feet high. Carolina Bays tend to become more elliptical with increasing size - up to 10km long. This is consistent with a large body of water taking longer to dissipate as it travels at speed across the landscape. Large bays tend to be deeper than small bays and they tend to occur either in linear arrays or in complex clusters. The consistent repition of shape and alignment can mean only one thing. Comet impact.
It is believed that these depressions were not caused by a rocky comet as no heavy metals have been found in the craters, but by bullets of water hitting the ground from a disintegrating comet. There has been some disbelief that such a catastrophic event could have occured in human times, people have tried desperately to think of some other way that these depressions could have occured. The fact is that these depressions occur in sand, mud, soil, upland gravel, but not on any rocky outcrops. The only mechanism for similar shaped depressions to occur in a diverse range of sediments is by a massive body of water, travelling at a high velocity at a low trajectory and dumped upon the earth. All the craters show a similar amount of weathering and infilling, therefore they must be all of the same age. It has also been noted that there are two oval shaped craters on the bottom of the ocean, just north of the Grand Bahaman banks.Their orientation is consistent with a NW to SE trajectory comet impact. It is believed that these impact sites are associated with the Carolina Bays. Whether or not there are any craters on the bottom of the ocean, the nature of a disintegrating comet entering the atmosphere is that small pieces of debris break off first, the largest remaining piece/s travels the furthest. Therefore as there are 500,000 small craters along the Atlantic coast, one must assume that a significantly large body impacted the Atlantic Ocean, resulting in a massive tsunami.

Core samples indicate the Carolina Bay formations was between 11-15,000 years ago, a more accurate date for their formation has not been ascertained as yet. Pollen samples indicate a pine forest prior to their formation changed to a deciduous forest after their formation. This change is seen in the core samples either side of a layer of sandy blue clay, devoid of pollen. This marks the time of creation of the lakes, and the resultant settling of dust after impact. The change in forest type after these depressions were formed indicates that they precipitated a radical climate change. Whoever was living in America at the time would have found this event totally devastating as shown in the following accounts of tribes from the area. Whether it was this, or a later event that destroyed Atlantis is yet to be determined.


http://users.on.net/~mkfenn/Catastrophes.htm
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« Reply #206 on: July 30, 2012, 12:27:17 am »




Atlantis in the Atlantic Ocean – that is the favourite theory among many scientists all over the world. Just because Plato mentioned an empire in the Atlantic Ocean? No! There is considerable circumstancial evidence for a land bridge or a huge island in the Atlantic Ocean.
According to Plato’s report, Atlantis should be situated between Spain, North Africa and Central America. This is exactly where the Canary Islands are – and the Atlantic Ridge, one of the world’s most unstable regions. Moreover, this is also the location of the Azores and, further westward, the Caribbean area with its huge and small islands.
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« Reply #207 on: July 30, 2012, 12:28:25 am »



 
From time immemorial, the Atlantic Ridge from Iceland to South America has been an area of considerable seismic activity. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are nothing extraordinary.

The Atlantic Ocean – Catastrophes:
In 1669, a major part of the notorious pirate island Port Royal sank due to an disastrous earthquake.
In 1775, Lisbon, which is on a parallel with the Azores at a latitude of 39 43'/36 55' N, was badly hit by a devastating earthquake killing 60 000 people. Moreover, both the harbour and the docks sank 200 metres to the ground.
In 1783, one fifth of the Icelandic population fell victim to a catastrophic earthquake.
In 1811, on the Azores, a volcanic island named “Sambrina“ rose some thousand metres to the surface and sank again shortly after. The islands of Corvi and Flores constantly change their shape and parts of them are swallowed up by the sea.
To the best of present knowledge there is an underwater area with deep valleys and high mountains around the Azores and the Canary Islands. Reducing the sea level by 150 metres to the Ice Age level brings about a huge piece of land which, however, does not match the dimensions Plato wrote about. Nevertheless, further westward, in the Caribbean area, a huge land mass comes into existence which perfectly meets Platos records.
The Atlantic Ocean – Facts:
In 1969, by order of Duke University, an expedition to the Aves Ridge in the Caribbean Sea found granite on fifty locations. Usually, granite is found only onshore or where once had been solid ground.
In 1898, 750 km north of the Azores, the transatlantic cable broke. On this occasion, rock samples were taken from a depth of 17 000 fathoms. A close examination came to the result that the rock samples consisted of tachylyte, a lava-like substance. Yet this mineral would not emerge unless above sea level and under atmospheric pressure. Moreover, it will decompose after 15 000 years. This means that once there had been mainland.
In a depth of up to 1 000 metres, coastal sand was found on the reefs of the Azores. However, it usually only appears on flat beaches.
In 1936, the Geological Society of America conducted a study of sunken river canyons in the Atlantic Ocean. It says that rivers on the European, the North African and the American side sank into the continental sockets for up to 300 km in length and 2 km in depth. That means that in the Pleistocene Age, that is when mankind emerged, the sea level underwent a change in depth up to 2 000 metres.
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« Reply #208 on: July 30, 2012, 12:31:44 am »


The Atlantic Ridge – one of the world’s most nororious regions in terms of seismic activity. Decreasing the sea level by 300 to 400 metres brings about a huge land mass that would perfectly fit Plato’s descriptions. In “Critias“, Plato writes:   


 
Quote
“(...)In the next place, they had fountains, one of cold and another of hot water, in gracious plenty flowing; and they were wonderfully adapted for use by reason of the pleasantness and excellence of their waters. They constructed buildings about them and planted suitable trees, also they made cisterns, some open to the heavens, others roofed over, to be used in winter as warm baths (...)“

Usually, these warm and cold springs manifest themselves within continental zones. An example for this is Iceland where people use the warm springs to supply themselves with heat and energy – just as Plato put it.
Yet the Würm Ice Age 12 000 years ago is not a suitable candidate to have reduced the sea level along the Atlantic Ridge. Did, then, the catastrophe in the Atlantic Ocean indeed happen? That desaster with its devastating earthquakes and inundations that caused the mid-Atlantic Ridge to sink? Or is it all about an inundation of the Caribbean area with its shallow waters? Also, the point in time when the glaciers melted would perfectly meet the time of the disappearance of Atlantis as has been indicated by Plato.
Read the following excerpt from the Critias dialogue:

Quote
“(...)Let me begin by observing first of all, that nine thousand was the sum of years which had elapsed since the war which was said to have taken place between those who dwelt outside the pillars of Heracles and all who dwelt within them; this war I am going to describe. (...)“
 

A further mystery concerns the migrations of the European eels. These animals spawn in the Sargasso Sea west of the United States of America. The newborn eels start their three years long eastbound migration following the Gulf Stream to the European rivers. Having reached sexual maturity they migrate back to the Sargasso Sea within four months, however leaving the Azores to their left this time. It has been proven that the eels need freshwater to reach maturity but why do they venture on this long journey across the Atlantic Ocean?
Could it be that the eels have a genetic memory of a mainland with freshwater in the Atlantic Ocean but cannot find it again because it sank? Is that why they keep on migrating until they reach Europe?
Another phenomenon relates to the suicide of the Norwegian lemmings. Every year when their homeland is running short of food, these little rodents start migrating westwards. At the end of their migration they jump into the ocean and continue swimming westwards until they drown. What is it these animals are after in the ocean? Are they following a basic instinct driving them into the ocean? Are they looking for a land that offered them plenty of food a long time ago? Was this land Atlantis, located in the Atlantic Ocean according to Plato?

http://www.atlantia.de/atlantis_english/myth/atlantis/atlantis_atlantic.htm
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« Reply #209 on: July 30, 2012, 12:32:44 am »

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