PLATE TECTONICS
Did North America and Europe fit together so perfectly that there was no body of water in between? Evidence indicates that there was a "proto-Atlantic Ocean" even before the continents began to spread apart. This evidence was obtained during a series of core drillings by the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory's Deep-Sea Project. During this expedition it was found that sediments off the coasts of North Africa and North America differed in age some 45 million years. Had the continents been joined the sediments would have been the same age (Hayes & Pimm, 1971). The nature of the samples resulted in Dr. Hayes postulating a 400-mile-wide "proto-Atlantic Ocean" extending from Newfoundland down to at least the Bermuda area.
Moreover the phenomenon known as "continental drift," which is due to the action of Plate Tectonics, is an extremely slow process. The breakup which left the Americas and Euro-Africa drifting apart began near the beginning of the Mesozoic Era some 200 million years ago. There has been sufficient room for Atlantis in the North Atlantic Ocean for the last 60 million years--and there is definitive oceanographic data to support this (Ewing, 1948).
Some biologists and zoologists have postulated the existence of a large landmass in the North Atlantic during Miocene times, 12-26 million years ago. Atlantis may have "surfaced" several times during the long geological history of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. But at the moment we are more concerned about the last 3 million years, i.e., the Pleistocene Epoch, which ended only 12,000 years ago.
Seismic activity has been somewhat concentrated near the Azore Plateau, roughly 25-30°N Latitude. (Tolstoy & Ewing, 1949) "In the final phase activity was renewed, with volcanism on the crest and faulting on the flanks . . . This last phase may have occurred as recently as the Quaternary." (Cifelli, 1970) Sediments were dated by submarine paleontology. And the Quaternary does include the Pleistocene Epoch. (Longwell, Flint & Sanders, 1969)
"Climatic catastrophes, which piled thousand of feet of ice on the higher latitudes of the continents, also covered the oceans with icebergs and ice fields at lower latitudes and chilled the ocean waters even down to the equator. Volcanic catastrophes cast rains of ash over the sea." (Pettersson, 1950) There is no question that the geological record of our planet presents "evidence of great catastrophes that have altered the face of the earth." (Ibid.) The question that pertains to our study here is when and where.
But what of the objections concerning the light granitic continental material known as sial (silicon-aluminum)? As stated above, a landmass does not have to be made of sial in order to be above ocean levels long enough to acquire vegetation and animal populations. Granted, if consisting predominately of sima (silicon-magnesium) it will be heavier and therefore unstable, but forces powerful enough to lift ocean bottoms for short periods of time (geologically speaking) certainly exist along the geologically turbulent Mid-Atlantis Ridge. The Ridge is the most active area on the face of the earth, and we will examine the evidence that a central Atlantic landmass has indeed existed several times in the geologic past.
But, in spite of what various geologists have said, there is good oceanographic data showing that much of this area along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is composed of sial, in spite of the scientific objections (Leonard, 1979). Dr. W. Maurice Ewing of Columbia University headed up several oceanographic expeditions along the famous Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
