Largest part of the Maltese islands is today under water

Largest part of the Maltese islands is today under water

Marine scientists have discovered an exceptionally well-preserved terrestrial landscape submerged in the coastal waters of the Maltese islands, which reveals how the archipelago would have looked like 20,000 years ago.

At this time, Europe was experiencing the Last Ice Age and sea level in the Mediterranean Sea was 130 metres lower than at present. Malta, Gozo and Comino were connected and the archipelago was two and a half times larger than it is today. Dingli Cliffs towered 380m above sea level whilst Valletta was located 10km inshore.

The coastline from Marsalforn to Pembroke consisted of steep coastal cliffs that were incised by more than 20 valleys. Numerous limestone plateaus hosted collapsed caves and featured landslides along their margins. A 40km-wide land bridge connected southeast Malta all the way to the south of Sicily.

Sea level rise during the last 20,000 years has drowned 450 km2 of this landscape, meaning that the largest part of the Maltese islands is today under water.

I'd thought I would pop in and share this one with those of you who are interested in this subject. It seems that Malta apparently keeps getting a bit more interesting by the month. This time the story is that the Island once upon a time was much larger and as has been speculated large section of land were submerged as the ocean levels rose during the last ice age melt off.

I wonder what interesting finds are in store for us?

reply to post by SLAYER69


Yeah this is nuts.

Did you know that England had MUCH more land around the same time as this is supposed to have existed? It was actually connected to Europe they say....

Crazy... Makes you wonder if we will ever get some of that land back that the oceans swallowed up....or lose more..

I love reading about this type of thing. I really believe we have lost so much history, to the oceans.

reply to post by zedVSzardoz


Yup

I think this might be of interest to you.

Enjoy.



[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e1eaa87f3052.jpg[/atsimg]
Seas 'hide ancient relics'

Submerged sites of ancient communities could be hidden in the seas around the Western Isles, according to experts. Dr Jonathan Benjamin and Dr Andrew Bicket believe the islands' long and sheltered lochs have protected 9,000-year-old Mesolithic relics. Rising sea levels may have covered up to 6.2 miles (10km) of land on the west coast of the Outer Hebrides. The archaeologists are to give a presentation in Comhairle nan Eilean Siar's council chambers on Monday.

During the Mesolithic period, also known as the Middle Stone Age, Britain was transformed from a peninsula to an island. It is thought that landslides in Norway - the Storegga Slides - triggered one of the biggest tsunamis ever recorded on Earth when a landlocked sea burst its banks. The water struck the north-east of Britain with such force it travelled 25 miles (40km) inland, turning low-lying plains into what is now the North Sea, and marshlands to the south into the Channel.

Ah the other great flood......where did St Patricks boat come to rest?

majorly cool stuff, thanks........s

very interesting stuff, in places like india, cuba etc looks like there are huge swaths of land that is now underwater.
interesting stuff.....

Mega interesting!

I have heard of North Sea fishing boats occasionally bringing up Mammoth bones and tusks from the area where the land bridge connecting Scotland and Scandinavia once was!

Is there any underwater cave systems, that hold archeological "treasures" ?

Just wondering . I know Temples that are underwater, in this region. Fabled Atlantis?

reply to post by zedVSzardoz


I could be wrong, but I think the land bridge between the UK and Europe was washed away by a sudden surge of water that came from the North. I'm sure I watched a documentary only a few weeks ago on the subject (presented by "Sodoff Baldrick" aka Mr Tony Robinson).

It's crazy to think that the last ice age (glacial age?) is still ongoing and waters are still rising, who knows how far before they stop....most of the UK is already under water!

I'm glad others found this interesting. I'd like to see some detailed side sonar images and if possible high quality underwater images of anything interesting they may find.

Originally posted by zedVSzardoz

Crazy... Makes you wonder if we will ever get some of that land back that the oceans swallowed up....or lose more..

No need to wonder...the answer is "Yes".

The great circle of life and whatnot.

reply to post by SLAYER69


I am not well versed in archaeological methodology. Is there a viable underwater process that can be used?

It would seem that there are literally thousands of doctoral thesis littering global coastlines.

reply to post by SLAYER69


I clicked this thread thinking Malta was actually sinking or something totally mis-lead myself

I'm keen on seeing if they plan on doing any dives or anything in the area, if it's so well preserved we might find some real gems down there.

I have always said that if we ever find any new evidence of older civilizations like for instance if any were around during the last ice age it will be locations like this, man naturally sticks to coastlines one way or another and coastlines of 12,000 years ago are naturally underwater now

Good thread OP S + F

Another great find at the islands of Malta is this :

Templar Tunnels Malta

Just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone generally interested in Malta.

reply to post by SLAYER69


Ahhhh....The Island of Giants. I love reading about Malta.

Slay, you and I both KNOW an advanced human civilisation existed before our time. I am fairly certain that their advanced technology was sound based, as everything has a frequency. But the giants in legend present a problem, and this is where I think the alien connection is.

I suspect a lot of building was done via sound manipulation by tuning in to the resonant frequency of the stone, but of course the stone had to contain a crystalline content, being quartz, to truly work. Like tuning sound to the resonant frequency of crystal glass, causing it to almost turn liquid before it finally gives way and breaks, I suspect they could load rocks on top of rocks by levitating with sound , and then mould by increasing the power output to the point the molecular structure of the rock melts into place.

But I also suspect giants were involved in the construction of certain places, and also using, maybe, this technology, but also their brute strength. But if they came from another planet with less gravity, which can be assumed by their increased height, then maybe their strength was not all that more than a humans, just their height that was intimidating, hence why David could fell the giant Goliath with a stone.

Ramblings of a crazy man, I know, I know.

Anyway, Easter Island, Malta, there are connections for sure, and giants play a large role in our ancient pre-history, before the last ice age which, in my opinion, may have been a deliberately caused event.

Stories like this just remind me of the question I can't seem to get away from; "Just how many times has man created civilisation, only to have it crumble around him, and then rebuild it again?" If Mankind, in it's current representation of Homo Superior, has been around for 3-400,000 years, and our current civilisation has risen from Nomads to Space travellers in 10-12,000 years, What were we doing for the other 380,000 years?

well well..

since i live here (red dot)



i guess im next to go

reply to post by heineken


I envy you.

I'd love to trade living space for a few weeks.
Ever been to the Pacific North West US?


We have, well, we have rain...

reply to post by SLAYER69


aaaaaaaaaaa

u know ur asking too much

this is my city btw..how can i ever trade




P.S...thank you for loving my country so much..the majority dont even know we exist

Originally posted by heineken
reply to post by SLAYER69

 

aaaaaaaaaaa

u know ur asking too much

this is my city btw..how can i ever trade

P.S...thank you for loving my country so much..the majority dont even know we exist

Heineken, So I'm guessing a swap to metro Detroit is TRULY out of the question then eh?

Slayer, thank you for this. Malta fascinates me...as does many places but Malta...wow. My kids' grandmother came here [to the US] from Malta as a little girl and it's captured my heart ever since. I truly wonder how much history is just sitting there under water, waiting for us to rediscover!
S&F as always. ~Lu

reply to post by JustLu


I'm sure that is where I went fishing and got lost in 1989 (ish).

Took my parents hours to find me.

(St Pauls bay rings bells?)

EDIT: Loads more memories coming up now......It was around the time of the new 5p or 10p coin, I can't remember, but I know we took loads with us as one of them was the same size as a Maltese coin of higher value and we rouged the can vending machines (sorry)!

There was an awesome burger bar just up from the hotel, the only words of English the owner knew was "No problem!!", he was a nice fellow though.

I remember that being the first time I seen one the weirdly modified StreetFighter II arcade machines.