Native Village Youth and Education News

March 1, 2009 Issue 195 Volume 1

 

Has Atlantis been found off Africa?
Matthew Moore
Condensed by Native Village

Africa: The ancient Greek philosopher Plato wrote that around 9000 BC., Atlantis sank beneath the ocean after its residents failed to conquer Athens.  Recently, a perfect rectangle the size of Wales has been discovered on the Atlantic Ocean floor. The network of criss-cross lines is 620 miles off the African Coast  near the Canary Islands.  The grids were found using Google's underwater exploration tool at the co-ordinates 31 15'15.53N 24 15'30.53W. 

GraphicDr. Charles Orser from New York State University says the find is fascinating and warrants further inspection.

"The site is one of the most prominent places for the proposed location of Atlantis, as described by Plato," the Atlantis expert said. "Even if it turns out to be geographical, it definitely deserves a closer look."

The legend of Atlantis has excited the public imagination for centuries. In recent years "evidence" of the lost kingdom has been found off the coasts of Cyprus and  southern Spain.

Plato described Atlantis as an island "larger than Libya and Asia put together" in front of the Pillars of Hercules (the Straits of Gibraltar.) He said Atlantis was a land of fabulous wealth, advanced civilization and natural beauty destroyed by earthquakes and floods.

The Atlantis Theory, however, has been rejected by Google.  According to CNet, Google shot down the Atlantis suggestion, saying the tracks were actually left by boat sonar.

"It's true that many amazing discoveries have been made in Google Earth, including a pristine forest in Mozambique that is home to previously unknown species and the remains of an ancient Roman villa," the company said in a statement. "In this case, however, what users are seeing is an artifact of the data collection process. Bathymetric (or sea floor terrain) data is often collected from boats using sonar to take measurements of the sea floor. The lines reflect the path of the boat as it gathers the data."

Google Ocean is an extension of Google Earth. It allows web users to virtually explore the ocean with thousands of images of underwater landscapes. Users can swim around underwater volcanoes, watch videos about exotic marine life, read about nearby shipwrecks, contribute photos and watch unseen footage of historic ocean expeditions.

www.telegraph.co.uk/
 http://news.aol.com/article/google-earth-grid/353546?icid=200100397x1218432672x1201258521

Sunken ... artist's impression of lost metropolis
Artist's rendition of Atlantis

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