Sinking Atlantis, again

kw: legends, myths, lost worlds

Remember this image? Similar images, purported to be Atlantis, are everywhere now. I posted about it a few days ago, asking, If it isn't Atlantis, what is it? My own speculation is that it is the trace of a seismic or sonar survey, or perhaps trawling. That is the position taken by most commentators. The Bits Blog at the N.Y. Times reports on Google's debunking of the Atlantis idea.

Two things come to mind, however. There are many sonar and seismic surveys done, often over equally large areas. The ocean floor ought to be marked up like the wall of a house inhabited by artistic toddlers. I've done some looking around, and so far I haven't found anything similar.

But it is hard to get an idea of the scale of this thing. It is 120x120 km, or 75x75 miles. I clipped an image of the Los Angeles area at the same scale for comparison.

It takes a couple hours, or more if there is traffic, to drive from Oxnard to Oceanside or San Bernardino. A 120x120 km square takes in from Lancaster to Irvine and Santa Monica to Riverside. That's a lot of territory. Though the "Atlantis" image looks like a city laid out in blocks, the blocks are big. Each one is about the size of Anaheim or Pasadena.

It's worth while looking for more traces on the ocean floor. I don't know why this one formation off Africa should be unique. I am pretty sure the formation was caused by something towed behind (and below) a ship.

If it isn't Atlantis, what is it?

kw: legends, myths, lost worlds

I heard about this on "Late Night" early this morning. This image, from Google Earth, is located on the sea floor at coordinates 31°20'N, 24°22'W. It is thought by some to be the remains of Atlantis.

Note: I have enhanced this image, by stretching the contrast and lightening, to make the formation easier to see (though it is quite evident without the processing).

Whatever this is, it is large, about 120x120 km (75x75 mi). The "blocks" are thus about ten km wide (E-W), ranging down to half that, and several km in the N-S direction. The width of the lines that look so much like streets is actually greater than the width of most city blocks.

Could there really be an Atlantis? Atlantis was called a Continent by Plato, though the word was not so precisely defined then as it is today. He compared it in size to Asia, by which he meant the peninsula occupied by modern Turkey, AKA Asia Minor. Asia Minor is about 600x2000 km (370x1200 mi). The feature pictured here could represent a major metropolitan area, as it is larger than the Los Angeles metro area. But let us note that the sea floor here, in the abyssal plain, is composed of oceanic crust. It has been sitting right where it is now for millions of years.

It'll be interesting to follow this story…