Prehistoric North Sea 'Atlantis' hit by 5m tsunami

[FarCenter]

A prehistoric "Atlantis" in the North Sea may have been abandoned after being hit by a 5m tsunami 8,200 years ago.

The wave was generated by a catastrophic subsea landslide off the coast of Norway.

Analysis suggests the tsunami over-ran Doggerland, a low-lying landmass that has since vanished beneath the waves.

...

By around 10,000 years ago, the area would still have been one of the richest areas for hunting, fishing and fowling (bird catching) in Europe.

A large freshwater basin occupied the centre of Doggerland, fed by the River Thames from the west and by the Rhine in the east. Its lagoons, marshes and mudflats would have been a haven for wildlife.

"In Mesolithic times, this was paradise," explained Bernhard Weninger, from the University of Cologne in Germany, who was not involved with the present study.

...

The Storegga slide involved the collapse of some 3,000 cubic km of sediment.

...

The tsunami would also have affected what is now Scotland and the eastern coast of England, as well as the northern coast of continental Europe.

The wave that hit the north-east coast of Scotland is estimated to have been some 14m high, though it is unclear whether this area was inhabited at the time.

But waves measuring some 5m in height would have hit the eastern coast of England, and there is good evidence humans were in this area 8,000 years ago.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27224243

[dipsydoodle]

1. For more on the subject of Doggerland see here

Doggerland is a name given by archaeologists and geologists to a former landmass in the southern North Sea that connected the island of Great Britain to mainland Europe during and after the last glacial period, surviving until about 6,500 or 6,200 BCE and then gradually being flooded by rising sea levels. Geological surveys have suggested that Doggerland was a large area of dry land that stretched from Britain's east coast across to the present coast of the Netherlands and the western coasts of Germany and Denmark.[2] Doggerland was probably a rich habitat with human habitation in the Mesolithic period,[3] although rising sea levels gradually reduced it to low-lying islands before its final abandonment, perhaps following a tsunami caused by the Storegga slide.[4]

The archaeological potential of the area had first been discussed in the early 20th century, but interest intensified in 1931 when a commercial trawler operating between the sandbanks and shipping hazards of the Leman Bank and Ower Bank east of the Wash dragged up a barbed antler point that dated to a time when the area was tundra. Later vessels have dragged up mammoth and lion remains, among other remains of land animals, and small numbers of prehistoric tools and weapons that were used by the region's inhabitants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggerland

And Storegga Slide here :

The three Storegga Slides are considered to be amongst the largest known landslides. They occurred under water, at the edge of Norway's continental shelf (Storegga is Norwegian for "the Great Edge&quot , in the Norwegian Sea, 100 km (62 mi) north-west of the Møre coast, causing a very large tsunami in the North Atlantic Ocean. This collapse involved an estimated 290 km (180 mi) length of coastal shelf, with a total volume of 3,500 km3 (840 cu mi) of debris.[1] This would be the equivalent volume to an area the size of Iceland covered to a depth of 34 m (112 ft).

Based on carbon dating of plant material recovered from sediment deposited by the tsunami, the latest incident occurred around ~6225-6170 BCE.[2][3] In Scotland, traces of the subsequent tsunami have been recorded, with deposited sediment being discovered in Montrose Basin, the Firth of Forth, up to 80 km (50 mi) inland and 4 m (13 ft) above current normal tide levels.

As part of the activities to prepare the Ormen Lange natural gas field, the incident has been thoroughly investigated. One conclusion is that the slide was caused by material built up during the previous ice age, and that a recurrence would only be possible after a new ice age.[1] Facts and arguments supporting this conclusion were made public in 2004. Earlier it was concluded that the development of the Ormen Lange gas field would not significantly increase the risk of triggering a new slide. A new slide would trigger a very large tsunami that would be devastating for the coast areas around the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storegga_Slide

[FarCenter]

3. 21,000 years ago the sea level was about 410 feet below todays.

The continental shelves were much more exposed and many coastline looked very different. Shallow seas, such as the North Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea were dry land. There is a lot of mesolithic archeology under the waves.

[FarCenter]

9. Post glacial sea level rise

[malaise]

2. Expect to hear from the creationists

Remember the planet is only 6,000 years old

[whistler162]

4. Hmmm... wasn't that about the time of the flood

described in the Bible?

[sarisataka]

6. Funny...

that was my first thought as well

[FarCenter]

7. There would have been a number of flooding events since the last glacial maximum

Filling of the Black Sea and filling of the Persian Gulf were probably traumatic for people living at the time. Flood legends could have their origin in such events. The notion that god was peeved at the victims would be understandable.

[snooper2]

8. you mean the flood story stolen from other religions the pre-date the bible?

[panader0]

5. Interesting--k and r