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Atlantis Location Hypothesis

The map below is a bathymetric or hydrographic map of the ocean floor of the North Atlantic as it exists today. This map is constructed from U.S. Navy data. It is obvious that the floor of the Atlantic is elevated along the  M id  A tlantic  R ift from Iceland to well South of the Azores in the southern Atlantic. In addition, it is easy to see the Azores Plateau and the area surrounding it. If you click on it you can see a larger more detailed version of the map. On the larger version you can make out the locations of interest to you. Remember, this is a under water depth map, and it is color coded by depth. You may click your mouse on any or all of these maps on this site to see a compilation of the maps being used or to help verify the source.

Look at the earthquake activity on Azores plateau and the MAR around the 9 Azores islands by visiting the website below. http://www.cvarg.azores.gov.pt/seismic/index.html

The earthquake activity is being caused by the movement of magma under the Azores plateau.



ABSTRACT
Much has been written about Atlantis since Plato's Timaeus and Critias discussions were written down over 2,400 years ago. This Atlantis Location Hypothesis takes Plato's two works as documents of history. From this record the search for Atlantis the island in the Atlantic Ocean just as Plato described will be initiated and a hypothesis with evidence will be submitted. Using scientific methods, research and principles we are establishing Atlantis in the Atlantic Ocean using these principles during the time Plato said it was there approximately 12,000 years ago. The modern sciences of today and very recent scientific climate and sea level change principles will help to establish the geography lesson of Plato. Of course, his justification is not the point here. The point is that the written and the oral records of humanity such as we have from Plato are important and will lead to revelations today that have been creatively suggested by inquisitive minds and then doubted by some of the best scientists and historians of the last 2,400 years or more.

PREFACE
The main premise of climate change is that weather patterns and ocean levels are not constant over time. Unlike the speculation regarding possible Atlantis locations on Wikipedia derived from careful work in archaeological ruins still above water today, this location hypothesis depends upon established glacier age science combined with the emerging knowledge of climate change which fits Plato's timeline stated in his writings. Using the ideas that have been mentioned, we incorporate and establish that the most recent past ice age ended at the same approximate time as Plato's works Timaeus and Critias claimed that the island of Atlantis disappeared in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Our location for Atlantis will not be only on dry land. Rather, our location for Atlantis will be under water in the Atlantic ocean around the Azores islands where Plato said that Atlantis once existed before waters of the Atlantic Ocean covered it. All manner of scientific method, past and recent research, chemical and geological analysis, and generally established ideas in the fields of Chemistry, Physics, Geology, Meteorology, Sociology, Medicine and Anthropology will be called upon to help establish the hypothesis through scientific research and evidence.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to acknowledge the following for their contributions to the Atlantis Location Hypothesis: DougWeller, who stimulated me to look into the Azores archipelago as the location for Atlantis with his kind but firm opposition. Sidelight12 for his advice to move to Wikiversity and consent to be a coauthor and his other contributions that are too numerous to mention. Dave Braunschweig who is responsible for rescuing the Atlantis Location Hypothesis and moving it to Wikiversity, his kind assistance and mentoring to me with his contributions, and suggestions that are too numerous to list here. Entrepic for his contribution regarding the effects of the mass of the glacial ice and the effects of the weight it exerted on the Earth. Marshallsumter for his reviews, contributions, support and advice. Marshallsumter has made many suggestions that are impressive to me and that are making significant improvements. In fact, most of the maps in this work were set up and had permissions obtained by Marshallsumter.

INTRODUCTION
This is a meta analysis of existing scientific research. Within this Atlantis Location Hypothesis exists several supporting hypotheses or in some cases theories like Climate Change. 97% of reputable publishing scientists agree that Climate Change is real and it is happening. Climate change science contributes significantly to this Atlantis location hypothesis. Climate Change tells us in no uncertain terms that the level of the oceans is not constant. Ocean levels and coastlines are NOT stable with time, and significant changes have occurred before written history that have relegated these facts to the oral tradition of mankind. Plato's story of Atlantis in Critias and Timaeus was not his story. It was a story relayed to him through his uncle Solon who heard it from an Egyptian priest. Although there are accounts of this story being written down in other places, those accounts are lost to history as is the end of Plato's dialogue Critias.

This meta analysis shall present scientific research which demonstrates that areas in Mid Atlantic Rift (MAR) were above sea level during the most resent ice age. This land disappeared as did land on the continental shelves throughout the world when glaciers melted and the melt water drained into the oceans. With the pressure of the glacier ice gone the continental land the glaciers covered exhibited and is still exhibiting rebound. The release of this pressure has caused the ocean basins to deepen and coastlines all over the world to change due to the easing of pressure on the Earth's Mantle. Sometimes the changes were sudden, sometimes they were gradual and sometimes they were even hit and miss but they have always trended upward. Eventually, the coastlines settled into the familiar patterns of the modern world today. Now, science is predicting that they are changing again. Those who choose to ignore climate change and seal level rise do so at their own peril sacrificing the safety of the population of the world in the long term.

OCEAN LEVELS AND COASTLINES ARE NOT STABLE WITH TIME
Modern sea levels are NOT stable over time. The levels of the oceans of today have existed for only about 3,000 years. Before that the coastlines were much farther into the oceans and seas of the world than we see today. Those areas that were coastline then are now below water. The levels of the oceans of the world were 100 meters lower where the mass of the glaciers did not affect the subsidence of the land. In those areas that were affected subsidence of the plates of the lithosphere over land in effect were pressurizing the ocean bottoms and causing them to rise. The water was contained in massive glaciers that covered the northern and southern regions of the world. 20,000 years ago during the Pleistocene age (also called the “Ice Age”) global temperatures were and the weather patterns were much different. In those areas covered by the extensive glaciation, obviously, the temperatures stayed cold in their respective seasonal cycles to prevent the winter snows from melting completely. This is a simplistic description of the formation of the glaciers.

Research has proposed that the increased ice in glaciers was being caused by the Earth’s volcanic activity. The Atlantis Location Hypothesis is proposing that the opposite effect is also a fact. Although this is one area of research we know that sea level changes and resultant floods are told in folklore and oral tradition all over the world. In fact, it appears in Plato’s writings. The historical part of early writings which science is confirming contain accurate historical descriptions that contain accurate physical descriptions of the conditions of the world in earlier times. However, these writings are not capable of accurately characterizing the chronological aspect of the historical record and that chronological aspect must be fixed scientifically to be reliable.

HISTORY FROM PLATO'S DIALOGUE "CRITIAS" that fixes the time of Atlantis' demise
"Let me begin by observing first of all, that nine thousand was the sum of years which had elapsed since the war which was said to have taken place between those who dwelt outside the Pillars of Heracles and all who dwelt within them... (Paragraph 7)" "Many great deluges have taken place during the nine thousand years, for that is the number of years which have elapsed since the time of which I am speaking; (Paragraph 9)" The second quote is for those who said that Plato made a mistake in the 9000 year time statement. There was no mistake. It is repeated in Critias twice.

"Plato's final years were spent at the Academy and with his writing. The circumstances surrounding his death are clouded, though it is fairly certain that he died in Athens around 348 B.C.E., when he was in his early 80s."

This year is 2017. 9000 + 348 + 2017 = 11,365 years before present

However, "Sometime around 385 B.C.E., Plato founded a school of learning, known as the Academy, which he presided over until his death."

Plato established the Academy and he taught there 37 years before his death in his early 80's, which could add as much as 37 years to the year of the demise of Atlantis. So the demise of Atlantis from this could have been as much as 11,402 years ago.

"The Holocene is the name given to the last 11,700 years* of the Earth's history — the time since the end of the last major glacial epoch, or 'ice age.'"

The range of error of correlation between these two dates from different sources is from 298 years to 335 years because of Plato's career range with the Academy. 11,700 - 11,365 = 335 difference, the largest error, the error is 335 / 11,700 X 100 equals roughly between 2 - 3 % or calculation yields 2.8632479% to 10 decimal places. If I were to apply statistical calculations we could rely upon mathematical correlation with little question that Atlantis' demise was at the end of the most recent ice age or at the end of the Holocene Epoch according to Plato. Clarification: This calculation is assuming that Timaeus and Critias were told and written down at the approximate time of Plato's death. Obviously, these two documented dialogues occurred during the prime of Plato's tenure at the Academy. Therefore, the approximation being used makes the correlation difference error appear slightly larger than it may actually be.

HYPOTHESIS PARTS I and II
Atlantis or the island that was called Atlantis was located on the present day Azores Plateau that was above the water at that time is part one of the hypothesis. Atlantis existed up to 12,000 years ago as a huge volcanic island that was in fact a large land mass that is called a seamount in the Atlantic Ocean. The Seamount was supported by a caldera under it with the Mid-Atlantic Rift running across it similar to how Iceland is structured today. The location was the Azores Plateau. The difference from Iceland being that it is also at the conjunction of 3 tectonic plates instead of 2. Consider a trail of seamounts that accumulate from the same mantle plume over millions of years. It is beyond the scope of my hypothesis to formulate precisely how long it took the Azores Plateau to form and to interact with 3 tectonic plates. It was and is a unique structure and whatever plate it was part of separated from it through a fault during an eruption to become an unstable configuration as described in the Triple Junction section that still exists today but is mostly submerged. The Atlantic Ocean was a shallow ocean as oceans go at the beginning of the Anthropocene epoch. We need to consider if we can blame humanity completely for what began in the Anthropocene epoch. Clearly, humanity cannot control climate changes that are caused by events of the nature being describedin this hypothesis, although it can by taking certain strategies attenuate the effects to a small degree to dampen the effects of those things that humanity is causing to happen.

Nevertheless the Anthropocene epoch should remain named as it is because humanity suffered a terrible tragedy at the time that begs description. The landmass of Atlantis completely blocked the Gulfstream. In fact, the Gulfstream, if it existed at all at that time since the Atlantic was shallow compared to what it is now, was completely turned back upon itself. In effect, the Gulfstream was completely turned off compared to how it functions today, being blocked by Atlantis and the islands that were above the level of the then much shallower water. This created a condition that supported the glaciers that existed on both sides of the Atlantic ocean and over the greatest extent of the Northern hemisphere and perhaps the entire world. Considering the effects upon the world in areas other than those mentioned in the Altantis Location Hypothesis is beyond the scope of this hypothesis. Since the Gulf Stream could not flow as much water in this condition, if it was flowing at all. Glaciers were also present in the south Atlantic and also all over the world due to the climate the world supported at that epoch. Plato's description of Atlantis the island was accurate to a degree that was geologically factual, not legendary. This part of the geologic description in Timaeus and Critias is supported by science today. Where its existence ended and its legend began is to be determined by others not by this hypothesis and not by the religious descriptions in Timaeus and Critias which are obviously not scientific.

When the caldera that existed under the Azores seamount that is fed by mantle plume that was under the Atlantis landmass erupted in a supervolcanic eruption, Atlantis the island receded and was flooded by tsunamis and lowered eruptions and by landslides as described by Plato. It is unlikely that the flooding could have started and stopped in a 24 hour period, but the subsidence of Atlantis could have occurred very rapidly. The flooding of the island land mass could have occurred in the time Plato mentioned accompanied by an underwater volcanic eruption, tsunamis and or earthquakes and other disastrous occurrences that could have continued after the main part of the island was submerged. The length of the period of time of the event that Plato described took to occur is inconsequential. That period of time of submergence whatever it may have been was short from a geologic timetable.

The events described in these two hypotheses set in motion changes in our Earth that still are still present in our modern world today. Part one of this hypothesis describes what has occurred and these occurances caused the melting of glaciers and the end of the most recent glacier age. Part two of the hypothesis is the most probable cause for the the world changes that occurred in part one of the hypothesis. These changes in the Earth that are described here in two parts are definitely significant. Humanity today is still being affected by the melting of the glaciers of the most recent glacier age, and the end of the most recent glacier age in the Holocene Epoch is a necessary predecessor to the changes in climate that we are experiencing today. In this hypothesis, which has two parts, the story is astounding but both follow accepted scientific principles and the results of scientific research that is already in existence. Thanks again goes to marshallsumter for observing and specifying these two parts of my hypothesis.

RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 10:04, 18 July 2017 (UTC) aka John A. Garner PhD July, 2017

SEA LEVEL CHANGE IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN
M. Ewing wrote that beach sand from prehistoric times was brought up in two deep sea cores, one from 3 km and the other from 5.5 km. These two cores came from an area over 1000 km from the coast on the Mid-Atlantic-Ridge. There were two layers in one core of sand which dated according to sedimentation rates at 20,000 to 100,000 years and in the other at 225,000 to 325,000 years.

R.W.Kobe found numerous diatoms from freshwater on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from several cores that were taken over 900 km distance from the coast of Equatorial West Africa. He claimed that this was evidence that the area in question was islands 10 – 12,000 years ago. The diatoms that he found he said were deposited as sediment in fresh water lakes which were later inundated under 3km of sea water. He states that this was a more plausible explanation than the claim that turbidity currents had moved the diatoms 930 km along the sea bottom and then lifted them up over 1000 km and deposited them on a the top of a submerged hill.

B.C. Heezen et. al. reports that at 37 degrees North the Atlantis seamount located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is flat topped at a depth of around 180 fathoms and has a current-rippled sand and or cobbles. Around a ton of limestone cobbles were brought up from the summit a sample of which gave a radio-carbon date of 12,000+/- 900 years. B.C. Heezen and colleagues states that that the limestone was lithified in a location above the water and that his is evidence that the seamount had once been an island but was submerged in the last 12,000 years.

The European Marine board has a list of publications regarding sea level change. One of those publications entitled "Land Beneath the Waves" (takes time to load) addresses how scientific exploration of submerged continental shelves that were inhabited by man during the last glacial maximum should be approached. There is a consensus among scientists that sea level change is a scientific fact.

DOCUMENTATION OF THE SIZE OF ATLANTIS
"...Atlantis, which, as was saying, was an island greater in extent than Libya and Asia,..."



Asia and Libya combined would be approximately the size of the Azores Plateau and the islands West of the Pillars of Herceles. Click on the map to see a larger version. (The above map is from Ortelius "Parergon" published in 1624. Credit: Abraham Ortelius.

The map below confirms that Libya was the limited to the Cyrene peninsula in the time of Plato. Therefore, the areas of the world Plato describes are, indeed, of similar size to the Azores Plateau or Seamount that had not yet experienced "subsidence" according to Plato. (Note: The word "subsidence" appears at the end of paragraph 40, counting each paragraph whether it be a short line of the conversation or a large paragraph.)



MAPS DEPICTING THE LANDSCAPES FROM TODAY, PLATO'S TIME AND FROM THE TIME OF ATLANTIS APPROXIMATELY 12,000 YEARS AGO
The following map reveals that the elevation of the Azores plateau plus much of the Mid Atlantic Ridge is no deeper than 656 feet or 200 meters today below the Atlantic ocean surface.



A larger version. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Atlantic_bathymetry.jpg

Even today, the depth is not that great. However, we must consider the most recent ice age when a glacial mass of 2-4 km of ice on top of Canada, the Great Lakes and New England regions of the US, Northern Europe, Northern Russia, and Northwest Siberia. This is equivalent to an ocean on top of the northern continents. Additional glacial weight would have been exerted on the southern Andes, and on mountains throughout the world. The melting of the glaciers over North America that were estimated to be up to 8,000 feet thick over Hudson Bay resulted in a land rise or rebound of 935 feet of rebound (isostatic rebound) meaning the ground in North America that was under the ice rose after the ice melted according to John P. Bluemle of the North Dakota Geological Survey.

Looking at the larger bathymetry map please note that the depths are color-coded. As you can see, the surface of the Azores massif (or plateau) is the same color as the borders of Florida and also the Iberian Peninsula. Note that Florida's coast contained by the black line and the lightest blue color was dry land. It is easy to make the connection that if areas in Florida were not below water then neither was the Azores plateau.

As shown in the Iberian margins, sea level during the last major glaciation may have been at or just above the yellow band on these bathymetry maps indicating a large number of islands outside the pillars of Hercules as well as the Azores microplate were near or just above sea level. Apparently, these did not sink but may have been submerged or more so as the glaciers began to melt.

So, as we have shown evidence, the "islands" beyond the "Pillars of Herceles" and many other areas that are now underwater or on a continental shelf was above the surface of the Atlantic Ocean approximately 12,000 years ago, as described in Critias and Timaeus.

NORTH WEST AFRICAN CONTINENTAL SHELVES (this entire excellent section was created by Marshallsumter)
There is an apparently small continental shelf along the northwest African coast.

Iberian margins In the images on the left, sea level during the last glaciation is likely at or above the yellow contour band. This appears to be the sea level delimiter in the second image down on the right.

Moroccan shelves The first image on the right shows a currently submerged mountain range and associated islands directly in front of the Pillars of Hercules just further west. These may have been above sea level during the previous 50 kyrs ice age.

Mauritanian continental shelves The "sedimentary processes along the shelf are driven by long-term factors such as Quaternary glacial–interglacial periods and shelf morphology, and by short-term factors such as fluvial and aeolian sediment supply, local climate (temperature, rainfall and wind) and hydrodynamic conditions (tides, swell, longshore current, the Canary Current and upwelling)."

Canary Island seamount province "The Canary Island Seamount Province forms a scattered hotspot track on the Atlantic ocean floor ~1300 km long and ~350 km wide, perpendicular to lithospheric fractures, and parallel to the NW African continental margin. New 40Ar/39Ar datings show that seamount ages vary from 133 Ma to 0.2 Ma in the central archipelago, and from 142 Ma to 91 Ma in the southwest."

Shallow "mantle upwelling beneath the Atlantic Ocean basin off the NW African continental lithosphere flanks produced recurrent melting anomalies and seamounts from the Late Jurassic to Recent".

Azores microplates "Archaeologists from the Portuguese Association of Archaeological Research (APIA) have identified [a great variety of protohistoric pyramidal rock structures, some of them 13 meters tall] on Pico island that supports their belief that human occupation of the Azores predates the arrival of the Portuguese by many thousands of years."

The "Madalena pyramidal structures, known by the locals as “maroiços,” are analogous to similar protohistoric structures found in Sicily, North Africa and the Canary islands which are known to have served ritual purposes."

The diagram on the right shows the Azores current as it is deflected by the islands from the Gulf stream about 2014.

The second image down on the right shows the Azores as nine islands that occupy a triple junction between the North American, African and Eurasian Plate, a spreading center bound by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge on the west and the Terceira Rift on the NE and the East Azores Fracture Zone to the SE. From the structure shown, the microplate though thick has undergone extensive fracturing. If at one time it was at or near sea level, it could have blocked a significant portion of the Gulf stream, diverted a major portion toward northwest Africa, or diverted most of the stream north of Scotland into the Norwegian coast. The microplate likely broke apart and subsided in a west to east manner.

The second image on the left is a more geostructurally detailed topographic map of the entire Azores microplate. It clearly shows how the forming of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge underneath has torn the microplate apart along the ridge and approximately perpendicular to it. The orange to brown band is the 1,000 m to sea level band. White is currently above sea level. The yellow band is the 2,000 m to 1,000 m band. It surrounds much of the brown zone and suggests an almost square plateau.

The third image down on the left shows two rows or walls of similarly sized volcanic rock crossing the field of view like those used to make the Pico pyramids.

North Atlantic Ridge The image on the right shows the topography west of north western Africa out to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It clearly shows the impact the ridge had on the Azores microplate, breaking it into parts on either side of the ridge.

See also


 * Paleanthropology under "Early History"

LOCATING THE PILLARS OF HERACLES THROUGH PLATO'S CRITIAS
"And he named them all; the eldest; who was the first king, he names Atlas, and after him the whole island and the ocean were called Atlantic. To his twin brother, who was born after him, obtained as his lot the extremity of the island towards the Pillars of Heracles, facing the country which is now called the region of Gades in that part of the world, he gave the name which in the Hellenic language is Eumelus, in the language of the country which is named after him, Gadeirus (paragraph 12)." "Gades es el nombre latino de la actual ciudad de Cádiz. Los griegos la llamaron Didýme. Considerada siempre como una isla, fue descrita por autores como Pomponio Mela (Chorografía, libro III) o Plinio el Viejo1​(libro IV de su Naturalis Historia). García y Bellido hace el siguiente comentario: 'Gades era en la antigüedad una isla, y aún lo es todavía, aunque no sea perceptible el hecho. Por esto, tanto Plinio como Estrabón y Mela hablan de ella al describir las islas que circundan los continentes. La ciudad contaba con dos centros urbanos, uno en las islas y otro en el continente, ahí el nombre de Didýme, en griego didyma significa 'mellizo'".

Translation to English.

"Gades is the Latin name of the current city of Cadiz. The Greeks called her Didýme. Considered as an island, it was always described by authors like Pomponio Mela (Chorografía, I free the IIIrd) or Plinio the Viejo1 ​ (I free the IVth of his Naturalis Historia). García and Bellido makes the following comment: ' Gades was in the antiquity an island, and it is still still, although the fact is not perceptible. That's why, so much Plinio like Estrabón and mela speak about her on having described the islands that surround the continents. The city was provided with two urban centers, one in the islands and other in the continent, there the name of Didýme, in Greek didyma means ' twin '."

The phrase "in antiquity" is generally taken to mean before recorded history. The oldest civilization to date unearthed in Egypt is said to be the first dynasty and it is dated to 7,000 B.C. According to Plato's Critias and Timaeus, Atlantis dates back to approximately 12,000 years before present so that civilization was 5,000 years after the demise of Atlantis.

The city of the province of Cadiz may be found on the following map colored in red. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_C%C3%A1diz#/media/File:Cadiz_in_Spain.svg

Modern Spain Map

Conclusion: The Pillars of Heracles are the modern Straights of Gibraltar. Remember, the sea level was very low 12,000 years ago so the cliffs that are apparent in the bathometric mapping would have appeared as tall cliffs between which a much narrower channel which gave access to the Mediterranean Sea which was also much shallower 12,000 years ago than today. See Section 7.4 "Moroccan shelves" for a map.

DESCRIPTION OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE AREAS NOW KNOWN AS GREECE DURING THE ATLANTEAN WARS OVER 12,000 YEARS AGO AS DESCRIBED IN CRITIAS AND TIMAEUS
The following three quotes in italics are directly from Plato's Critias. The description is of the geography of the area of the Middle East that is now Turkey, Greece and the Agean Sea

"The progress of the history will unfold the various nations of barbarians and families of Hellenes which then existed, as they successively appear on the scene; but I must describe first of all Athenians of that day, and their enemies who fought with them, and then the respective powers and governments of the two kingdoms. Let us give the precedence to Athens. (paragraph 7)"

According to Plato there were many peoples living in the area that is going to be described.

''"Concerning the country the Egyptian priests said what is not only probable but manifestly true, that the boundaries were in those days fixed by the Isthmus, and that in the direction of the continent they extended as far as the heights of Cithaeron and Parnes; the boundary line came down in the direction of the sea, having the district of Oropus on the right, and with the river Asopus as the limit on the left. The land was the best in the world, and was therefore able in those days to support a vast army, raised from the surrounding people. Even the remnant of Attica which now exists may compare with any region in the world for the variety and excellence of its fruits and the suitableness of its pastures to every sort of animal, which proves what I am saying; but in those days the country was fair as now and yielded far more abundant produce. How shall I establish my words? and what part of it can be truly called a remnant of the land that then was? The whole country is only a long promontory extending far into the sea away from the rest of the continent, while the surrounding basin of the sea is everywhere deep in the neighbourhood of the shore. (paragraph 9)"''

Carefully observe that the area described in Plato's Critias that is the present day Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey was in those days dry land on the map below. Furthermore, Plato's Critias describes the area as a fertile valley and gives the larger region a name, Attica. This area inhabited by the ancestors of the people of Greece was a well-populated country with a significant military force that according to Critias had both defended and liberated the lands on the Mediterranean side of the Pillars of Heracles.

This bathymetric map of the Mediterranean Sea shows the surface above sea level during the last ice age in orange-brown.

As described in the blockquote from Plato's Critias below the same cataclysm that flooded Atlantis also claimed this area of Attica and the lives of the predecessors of the Grecian cultures of Plato's time. Undoubtedly, the traditions carried on but as a world power this society perished simultaneously with the Atlantis culture.

''"Many great deluges have taken place during the nine thousand years, for that is the number of years which have elapsed since the time of which I am speaking; and during all this time and through so many changes, there has never been any considerable accumulation of the soil coming down from the mountains, as in other places, but the earth has fallen away all round and sunk out of sight. The consequence is, that in comparison of what then was, there are remaining only the bones of the wasted body, as they may be called, as in the case of small islands, all the richer and softer parts of the soil having fallen away, and the mere skeleton of the land being left. But in the primitive state of the country, its mountains were high hills covered with soil, and the plains, as they are termed by us, of Phelleus were full of rich earth, and there was abundance of wood in the mountains. Of this last the traces still remain, for although some of the mountains now only afford sustenance to bees, not so very long ago there were still to be seen roofs of timber cut from trees growing there, which were of a size sufficient to cover the largest houses; and there were many other high trees, cultivated by man and bearing abundance of food for cattle. Moreover, the land reaped the benefit of the annual rainfall, not as now losing the water which flows off the bare earth into the sea, but, having an abundant supply in all places, and receiving it into herself and treasuring it up in the close clay soil, it let off into the hollows the streams which it absorbed from the heights, providing everywhere abundant fountains and rivers, of which there may still be observed sacred memorials in places where fountains once existed; and this proves the truth of what I am saying. (paragraph 9)"''

The map below is of the Aegean Sea, Greece and Turkey as they are presently. You can see how shallow the Aegean Sea area is and how the map from 12,000 years previously was flooded as described in the following quote from Plato's Critias by the Egyptian Priest. The processes are now well known as melt-water pulses. Satorini thira was located on the dry land portion of the map. It became an island when the meltwater pulses flooded Attica and created the Aegean Sea. It is easily located by enlarging the maps below. It is located on the South Aegean Volcanic Arc which is north of the present-day island of Crete. The Hellenic Trench Subduction Zone is located south of the island of Crete in the deeper part of the Mediterranean Sea.



"As for those genealogies of yours which you just now recounted to us, Solon, they are no better than the tales of children. In the first place you remember a single deluge only, but there were many previous ones; in the next place, you do not know that there formerly dwelt in your land the fairest and noblest race of men which ever lived, and that you and your whole city are descended from a small seed or remnant of them which survived. And this was unknown to you, because, for many generations, the survivors of that destruction died, leaving no written word. For there was a time, Solon, before the great deluge of all, when the city which now is Athens was first in war and in every way the best governed of all cities, is said to have performed the noblest deeds and to have had the fairest constitution of any of which tradition tells, under the face of heaven."

The digital elevation map below illustrates the the level of the Mediterranean Sea during the Atlantean Wars with Greece. As described in the previous quote from Plato's Critias the Aegean Sea was mostly dry land as illustrated in red. Greece was much larger before the ocean level rise after the glaciers melted.



Now the truth as told by the Egyptian Priest so long ago has been explained by science.

The destruction of the early predecessor of ancient Greece is described in Plato's Timaeus which occurred simultaneously with the destruction of Atlantis as described in the following quote highlighted in bold text. (paragraph 41)

''"Many great and wonderful deeds are recorded of your state in our histories. But one of them exceeds all the rest in greatness and valour. For these histories tell of a mighty power which unprovoked made an expedition against the whole of Europe and Asia, and to which your city put an end. This power came forth out of the Atlantic Ocean, for in those days the Atlantic was navigable; and there was an island situated in front of the straits which are by you called the Pillars of Heracles; the island was larger than Libya and Asia put together, and was the way to other islands, and from these you might pass to the whole of the opposite continent which surrounded the true ocean; for this sea which is within the Straits of Heracles is only a harbour, having a narrow entrance, but that other is a real sea, and the surrounding land may be most truly called a boundless continent. Now in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire which had rule over the whole island and several others, and over parts of the continent, and, furthermore, the men of Atlantis had subjected the parts of Libya within the columns of Heracles as far as Egypt, and of Europe as far as Tyrrhenia. This vast power, gathered into one, endeavoured to subdue at a blow our country and yours and the whole of the region within the straits; and then, Solon, your country shone forth, in the excellence of her virtue and strength, among all mankind. She was pre-eminent in courage and military skill, and was the leader of the Hellenes. And when the rest fell off from her, being compelled to stand alone, after having undergone the very extremity of danger, she defeated and triumphed over the invaders, and preserved from slavery those who were not yet subjugated, and generously liberated all the rest of us who dwell within the pillars. But afterwards there occurred violent earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea..."''

Notice the portion of the quote that says, "...all of your warlike men in a body sank into the earth,..." In an earthquake in sandy soil with a high water table the soil will behave like a liquid in a severe earthquake. So the area that is now the Aegean Sea would not support the buildings built on it and they would sink and / or collapse burying those who dwelt in that area. The behavior and liquefaction of soil is well represented in research.

There is documentation of this happening in an area of Greece in the year 373/2 B.C. in central Greece. In the book Geotechnical Special Publication No. 118 Volume One A History Of Progress - Selected U.S. Papers in Geotechnical Engineering Edited by W. Allen Marr ISBN:0784475261 on page 1257

"In the year 373/2 B.C. during a disasterous winter night, a strange thing happened in central Greece. Helice, a great and prosperous town on the north coast of the Peloponnesus, was engulfed by the waves after being leveled by a great earthquake. Not a single soul survived....The next day two thousand men hastened to the spot to bury the dead, but they found none, for the people of Helice had been buried under the ruins and subsequently carried to the bottom of the sea, where they now lie"

This description by Marinatos (1)2 of the destruction of Helice, may well record the earliest known case of a major landslide resulting from soil liquefaction induced by an earthquake. Helice was located on deltiac deposits of alluvial sand between the mouths of the Selinus and Cerynites rivers and about a mile and a half from the coast. the city is now completely covered and no trace of it exists, neither on the ground surface nor on the bottom of the sea. The events leading to the disappearance of Helice and its inhabitants are not immediately clear. a general subsidence of the land area during the earthquake undoubtedly occurred and this alone could have led to floofing of the city. However both Schmidt (2) and Marintos, who made detailed studies of the event, concluded that in addition to the destruction of buildings by the ground shaking and flooding due to land subsidence, the ground slipped towards the sea possibly as much as half a mile. Marintos notes that ordinalrily it would beexpected that building destruction and flooding would lead to some of the dead floating to the surface where they would have been picked up for burial. It seems reasonable to conclude that only the entrapment of the inhabitants in collapsed buildings, and temporarily liquefied and flowing soils could have led to the recorded facts that no one survived and no dead were found.

Some evidence in support of this concept is provided by the fact that (1)"the phenomenon was repeated, in exactly the same place though to a lesser degree, during the earthquake of December 26, 1861..."

The civilizations and the cities that were built upon dry land that is now the Aegean Sea were buried when the soil was liquefied by an earthquake. IT is possible that an earthquake along the The Hellenic Trench Subduction Zone south of the island of Crete in the deeper part of the Mediterranean Sea could cause a tsunami Then, it was flooded by a meltwater pulse and then was moved toward the deeper part of the Mediterranean Sea in an underwater landslide after the flood. Now, like the city of Helice, it cannot be found because it was buried, flooded and moved with all inhabitants inside. It is also possible that an earthquake along the The Hellenic Trench Subduction Zone south of the island of Crete in the deeper part of the Mediterranean Sea could cause a tsunami during an earthquake contributing to the flooding of Attica. (See the map ) The story of the destruction of the population and the civilization that preceded ancient Greece, the Hellenes, as related to Solon by the Egyptian Priest and recorded in Plato's Critias is explained scientifically using well-established geological principles.

DOGGERLAND, EUROPE AND THE ATLANTEAN WARS
An alternative for the origin and location of "The "Great Plain" of Atlantis - was it in Doggerland?"] authored by Jean Deruelle in 1999 has been described in North Sea continental shelves. Was the Plain of Atlantis in Doggerland? In Plato's Timaeus it is clearly stated that Atlantis was an island located in the Atlantic in front of the strait called Pillars of Heracles. (Approximately the 40th paragraph counting each statement of the dialogue a separate paragraph.) It was a mighty power which unprovoked made an expedition against the whole of Europe and Asia. Doggerland was connected to Europe by land as late as 8000 BCE. Therefore, since the Atlanis Location hypothesis establishes the demise of the island of Atlantis as approximately 12,000 BCE, then, Atlantis as a world power would have made an expedition and subjugated Europe and therefore Doggerland which was clearly connected by land and therefore a part of Europe, which was by that time subjugated or conquered by Atlantis as told in Plato's Timaeus.

The Research that revealed Doggerland contributes to the proof of the existence of Atlantis 12,000 years ago as described in Plato's Timaeus. Atlantis and Greece (aka Attica) had wars to stop the conquest of that area of the world by Atlantis 12,000 years ago as described in Plato's dialogues. The argument that the stories are made up to illustrate philosophical (and religious?) points could be readily accepted if so much geologic evidence had never been recovered. However, too much is now known that allows us to place Atlantis right at the location where Plato described it. Plato's geography lesson offers testament to the hypothesis. Of course, other areas of civilization existed throughout the world 12,000 years ago. The closer the proximity of these areas on the continental shelves of the world to Plato's Atlantis in the Atlantic, the more likely these settlements were to be colonized by Atlantis. Hence, Doggerland, Europe and the areas that were free of ice with a climate that could support a human settlement could have also had a blended Atlantean culture, or were subjugated by Atlantis or possibly both.

Timeus Correlations
As described by Plato in these dialogues Solon visited the old priesthood in Egypt. He was told clearly of the lands within the Pillars of Hercules and the lands outside of the Pillars of Hercules.

The Priest also made the statement that the Sea or Atlantic ocean Outside of the Pillars of Hercules were no longer navigable.

I ask the reader to consider the land of Atlantis as a plateau, a huge seamount and a Supervolcano. When it erupted underwater pumice clogged the Pillars of Herceles. Even in today's world such floating pumice is a hazard to shipping.

The main caldera of the island or seamount of Atlantis was on the conjunction of 3 tectonic plates, whose top is a plug that has been deformed in the underwater eruption of 12,000 years ago all along the MAR. Under this is the Mantle plume feeding the caldera, the magma produced by the melt of the rock grinding and being fed into the various volcanoes of the islands that are atop the fractured seamount. These are fractured volcano feeder calderas not unlike a wormian bone formations in the sutures of a human skull that are being fed by the plume via the caldera and lava tubes. Look at the "Azores Microplate" in the diagram/map at this website/article.

http://assets.geoexpro.com/legacy-files/articles/GEOTourism%20The%20Azores.pdf

THE HOTSPOTS, PLATEAUS, AND FLOOD BASALTS OF THE WORLD


The hotspots that are marked on the map tell the current location of mantle plumes. The mantle plumes appear to migrate over time. The tectonic plates migrate over the mantle plume at a higher rate than the mantle plumes migrate. The end result is a series of seamounts that trace the relative path tectonic plate that were formed by mantle plumes generated by hot spots. The path of the tectonic plate over the hotspot is marked by a series of seamounts. The most recently formed seamount of this series is found in the Azores. It is the Azores plateau. The path of migration between the hotspot that formed the Azores Plateau and the mantle plumes that formed the seamounts is from the area now called Newfoundland to the Azores Plateau as illustrated above.

The evidence for a mantle plume in the Azores is found in the following references or is this simply what is being called a "wetspot" rather than a hotspot? This debate continues

Questions may be implied from this conflicting research. If there is no hotspot and therefore no mantle plume east of the MAR now then what created the trail of seamounts leading back along the implied path mentioned and illustrated above to Newfoundland? Is there still a hotspot and therefore a mantle plume to the East of the MAR or did it simply vanish?

Was there once a magma chamber in the Azores seamount which is now the remnants of a submerged, destroyed and flooded caldera that was fractured by an eruption that began underwater and then was fractured and deformed by the stresses caused the MAR beneath it? Did this magma chamber if it existed originally contain magma from a mantle plume from the Azores hotspot? Or, has there never an Azores Plateau that existed in one piece that was above sea level 11,700 years ago, i.e. has it always been as we see it now ? If such a large magma chamber existed was it large enough to supply enough magma to support the underwater eruption described in this Atlantis Location Hypothesis to do the damage described by Plato in the dialogues of Timaeus and Critias ? Finally, did the remnants of the main hypothesized island of Atlantis that existed here after the submergence due to the underwater volcanic eruption being described finally result in the 9 Azores islands that we see today due to sea level rise, flooding and frank collapse ?

A TRIPLE JUNCTION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN, THE NUBIAN OR AFRICAN AND THE EUROPEAN CONTINENTAL PLATES AND SUPERVOLCANOES
The seafloor elevation of the Azores Plateau is the result of the interaction of a mantle plume with lithosphere creating a melt that migrates toward the MAR. Supervolcanoes exist on the ocean floor and their location is associated with undersea plateaus or "rises". The MAR is bordered by 3 tectonic plates, the North America, Eurasia-Iberia and Africa plates. Supervolcanoes are not readily identified on the floor of any ocean in the world. Super volcanoes occur and operate by different rules on the ocean floor. "Seamounts" or "Rises" document how the "hotspot" or mantle plume has migrates across the floor of the oceans of the world. The mantle plume under the Azores Plateau in the Atlantic migrated to its present location in the Azores. Rather, the American plate migrated across it. Again, these "seamounts" are large volcanoes that are no longer active because the crust of the Earth has moved away from the mantle plume from which they rose leaving a seamount in the ocean floor. You can follow this hotspot in its migration from Newfoundland to its present location in the Azores. . This is a similar description to the Yellowstone hot spot or mantle plume migrating across the upper northwest of America and the mantle plume responsible for the Hawaiian islands.

There are 16 types of so-called "triple tectonic plate" intersections. The intersection in the Azores is known as a triple junction. Some of these kinds of junctions are unstable. This may be predicted by geometry, forces upon the tectonic plates and the prinicples of Newtonian Physics. Unstable junctions only exist for a very short period of geologic time changing into stable junctions. At the time this is happening there is an earthquake and the result can be a volcanic eruption, or the creation of a tsunami, an earth slide or some combination of these and other geologic disasters. The Azores Plateau transitioned from a stable junction to an unstable junction opening the Caldera below it triggering a super eruption and causing the Azores Plateau to sink into the caldera. This was a serious geologic disturbance. This is what caused the super volcanic eruption underwater that started the Atlantis tragedy that set in motion all of the changes to the Earth that this hypothesis describes. This included setting in motion the geologic conditions that would eventually cause glacial isostatic adjustment. At or around the time that Atlantis disappeared, the MAR and associated structures were pressurized from beneath by the glaciation of the various parts of the globe, but especially the Atlantic Basin. When the huge 'plug' that is the Azores plateau became free floating on the magma in the caldera under it, the Azores seamount fractured and started to submerge in various segments. The submergence not only released magma in the form of pumice, but it also released greenhouse gasses all under tremendous pressure, but also under water and on remaining subaerial islands forming the stratovolcanoes that we see today both during the initial eruption and in smaller more localized eruptions that followed. By the time the triple junction of the tectonic plates stabilized into a stable configuration, the plateau had subsided enough to change the course of the gulf stream allowing it to bathe the lands of the glaciers with warmer water that eventually melted much of the glacier cover. To know how much the initial submergence was if it is possible to determine will require further field research. This Azores Archipelago or seamount is still active today. http://www.cvarg.azores.gov.pt/seismic/index.html This depressurized the MAR and associated structures, set into motion the end of the most recent ice age and it ensured that the Atlantic ocean floor would eventually recede to its present-day levels and continents would rebound over time. It ensured world-wide sea level change and drowning of continental shelves all around the world with human settlements, displacing humans and animals and causing untold suffering, hardship and in some cases whole species extinctions.

Although science says that supervolcanic eruptions are rare they also recognize that 80% of all volcanic eruptions occur on the floor of the oceans of the Earth where they go unnoticed. Two mantle plumes could exist in the Azores archipelago area or that lithosphere is melting and combining with the updwelling magma from a single mantle plume. .

Current seismic monitoring indicates the activity of magma flow under the Azores Plateau still continues today. http://www.cvarg.azores.gov.pt/seismic/index.html

Recent research suggests that the demise of Atlantis has started ice melts in Antarctica that have continued for the last 11,000 years

THE SEPARATION OF CORVO AND FLORES FROM THE OTHER AZORES ISLANDS BY THE MID ATLANTIC RIFT
Corvo and Flores are located over the North American tectonic plate. If indeed the Azores Islands are all the highest elevations of the submerged island of Atlantis, then the land would have been above the ocean surface and the Mid Atlantic Rift would have ran through the body of land from North to South. Under the body of land would have existed an immense caldera, perhaps the biggest one that ever existed on the Earth. Keep in mind the fact that a Mantle Plume or hot spot does not move in relationship to the core of the Earth. Rather, the surface of the Earth moves across it.

The significant unknown is the rate of spreading of the MAR. Every resource tends to give an average spread rate for the MAR which seems to vary in addition, this variation tends to cause a variation in crustal thicknesses of the ocean floor. This means that the MAR must spread at different rates along its length producing varying crustal thicknesses. Furthermore, none of these rates are constant. This is evidenced by the various horizontal fault lines along the ocean bottom that extend from East to West (or West to East). These signify the variations in MAR spread rates along the MAR from North to South. MAR spread can be expressed only in average spread rates. The proposed location of a mantle 'hot spot' determined by P-wave tomography is close to Terceira just east of the Mid Atlantic Rift (MAR).

Corvo, being the smaller of the two that are separated from the rest of the 7 Azores islands, is approximately 6km X 4km in size and it has a surface area of 17 - 12 km2. Presently, it has a caldera that has erupted numerous times in Strombolian and Plinian eruptions. It started as a shield volcano and its later series of eruptions as a stratovolcano left the caldera open and collapsed. All of the lava flows over time studied on Corvo make it evident that the various lava flows originated from the same source. According to previous references, the Corvo caldera was filled by a magma chamber approximately 15 km below it which was supplied by one (or both) of the mantle plumes that supplied the various calderas of other islands of the Azores archipelago today at the time Atlantis or the Azores plateau was one island. This crossing is described as being accomplished by magma conduits. P. 791.

A LARGE GEOLOGICALLY ANCIENT CALDERA EXISTED BELOW THE AZORES PLATEAU AND ERUPTED
There exists a much larger, difficult to image, magma chamber that is below and feeds the multiple chambers that feed the various volcanoes both suberged and sub-aerial on the Azores plateau or seamount. Such structures support the MAR eruptions and new seafloor formation. The larger chamber under the Azores Plateau that supplies the others and the MAR is the one that drove the multiple eruptions both submerged and sub-aerial 12,000 years ago that caused Atlantis to subside below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean far enough to change the course of the gulf stream current. This, in turn, caused the world climate change that eventually brought the most recent ice age to an end.

The lifetime and size of these many smaller shallow magma bodies are controlled by crustal-scale magmatism. The volcanoes of Sao Miguel are described as six volcanic zones. The map of the island reveals that three main areas of volcanic activity exist, one on each end of the island and one in the middle. It is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful places in the world. But the beauty of this place is underscored by the Azores Plateau upon which it resides, that covers an area of 400,000 sq.Km. Under the Azores Plateau lies a super volcanic system with a huge caldera that is or that was fed by at least one and possibly two mantle plumes.

The three stratovolcanoes on Sao Miguel (the island is named after an arch-angel) are Sete Cidades, Agua de Pau and Furnas. The U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1900, Geology of Three Late Quaternary Stratovolcanoes on Sao Miguel, Azores by Richard B. Moore states that Furnas was formed entirely within the last 100,000 years. This is stated in the Abstract and Furnas' caldera is only 12,000 years old. The Abstract of "Volcanic geology of Furnas Volcano, São Miguel, Azores" states  "The island of São Miguel in the Azores has three active central volcanoes. These are Sete Cidades, Fogo, and Furnas. Furnas does not have a cone but rather a steep-sided caldera approximately 8 km X 5 km across. The activity of Furmas is Plinian and it has a history of at least two significant eruptions in the time frame told by Plato’s description of Atlantis that resulted in caldera collapse and refilling. The first was 30,000 yrs BP and the second was 10,000 to 12,000 years BP. More recent eruptions have occurred, the first 1630 AD and new evidence suggests that another occurred during the human occupation of the Azores at about 1440 AD."

Pico was formed at approximately the same time in a VEI 5 eruption. Pico, the highest peak in the Atlantic is a volcano characterized by flank eruptions, such as the one at Mt. St. Helens in the U.S. in 1980 Monaco Bank is an unexplored European Volcano mentioned on a web site called Volcano Cafe. Through research publications the size of the caldera that existed underneath the Azores before the eruption begins to be revealed. As the shape, depth and extent of the Mantle Plume fed caldera becomes evident from the number and the size of the volcanoes it supplied, we also see that the flow of magma is contributed to by continental drift. Apparently, the mixing of the two magma sources, one from the plume and the other from continental plate interactions, analysis of the isotopes of helium from each source reveals the source of the magma, i.e. mantle plume or continental plate interaction.

https://volcanocafe.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/monaco-bank-an-unstudied-european-volcano/

Both Fogo and Pico, volcanoes on two separate islands in the Azores, erupted simultaneously 12,000 years ago in the supereruption. Pico was formed then and Fogo had its present caldera formed then. That is not all. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1900, Geology of Three Late Quaternary Stratovolcanoes on Sao Miguel, Azores by Richard B. Moore states on page 20 that Syenite Xenoliths as large as 0.5 meters in diameter are found in the alluvial deposits of all of the volcanoes on Sao Miguel. Since the caldera of Furnas is only 12,000 years old, Syenite Xenoliths found in this caldera must be from somewhere else. Most likely, they are from the caldera under the Azores Plateau that is fed by Mantle Plumes through lava tubes.

Syenite Xenoliths are always partially composed of older, crystalline igneous rock. These rocks have formed in the crevasses of a caldera and are the products of a mantle plume. Since Xenoliths were found in the 12,000 year old outflow from Furnas, this indicates a volcanic supereruption must have occurred at that time, 12,000 years ago from the supervolcano under the Azores Plateau. Furthermore, since Pico erupted with a VEI of 5, but it was not the only volcano erupting at that time, Furnas also erupted.

"'...Atlantis, which, as was saying, was an island greater in extent than Libya and Asia, and when afterwards sunk by an earthquake, became an impassable barrier of mud to voyagers sailing from hence to any part of the ocean...' (Paragraph 7)."

The eruptions occurred underwater along with earthquakes, because Plato described pumice floating beyond the Pillars of Hercules for some time after the eruption leaving the waters unnavigable as "an impassable barrier of mud." This eruption and earthquake were the root cause of the glaciers to melt over northern hemisphere, the ocean levels world wide to rise, dry land to be inundated, coastline settlements to submerge all over the world and the most recent ice age to end. But Plato DID mention earthquakes.

The Azores are still a very geologically active area with a significant hazard potential to residents. Safety monitoring is taken seriously and potential exists for disasters from geological activity. Click below to confirm today's seismic activity in the Azores.


 * Seismic Activity in the Azores Plateau

Research Data that further supports an underwater volcanic super eruption and the present geologic conditions at Graciosa island
On Graciosa the Caldeira da Graciosa, resulted from the collapse of a volcanic cone 12,000 years ago. This volcano was also erupting.

The SE Terceira Rift alone contains 252 submarine volcanic cones. (Seamounts) These cones all demonstrate the characteristics of Plinian (explosive) eruptions. These cones exist up to 3200 meters below the ocean surface. The average diameter of these cones is 732 meters. The heights of these cones vary between 200 meters for the highest to a minimum of 50 meters. The volcanoes developed simultaneously according to High-resolution multichannel seismic data. This data supports the hypothesis description of a supervolcanic eruption and the sinking of Atlantis. 80 percent of volcanic eruptions occur on the ocean floor It appears that the Terceira Rift occurred across an edge of the Eurasian Plate setting the supervolcanic eruption in motion. This is because of 252 submarine volcanic cones that demonstrate Plinian eruption in the Terceira Rift. This eruption started the de-stabilization of the caldera and the force of the piece of lithosphere on the top of the caldera caused the eruptions of all of the volcanoes that were connected to the caldera. The sinking of Atlantis then began. The depressurization of the caldera ensured the eruption along the MAR sinking the part of the plate still above the portion of the Azores plateau over the North American Plate. Volcanoes erupted on this part of the plate also as it sank leaving only the areas destined to be the islands of Flores and Corvo. Seawater rushing in increased the force of the eruption with super-heated steam which decreased as the water became deeper and better able to attenuate the creation of steam. This area of the ocean floor still has sea water circulating under it.

Recent research from 2014 involving Graciosa island indicates that catastrophic events are still shaping the island. The conclusion of the article states, in part...

"Despite the position of the Graciosa Island partly along the northern shoulder of the TR, we conclude that the several destruction stages did not involve slow and gradual faulting linked to the tectonic activity of the rift, but in contrasts occurred through sudden and most probably catastrophic lateral flank collapses. However, we cannot exclude that such repeated destabilization episodes may have been triggered by major earthquakes .(pg.43, 2nd column)"

Also in this same 2014 article in the French publication Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research one can see the effect of this catastrophic lateral wall collapse on the size of parts of the island Graciosa island on the Azores plateau along the Terceira Rift in figure 10 on the bottom of pg. 42.

These flank collapses, although difficult to date whenever they occurred, are the end result of the sinking of Atlantis during the supervolcanic eruption this hypothesis dates as occurring 12,000 years ago. Research may indicate that the other islands in the Azores Plateau archipelago also undergo the same processes as Graciosa island. They are all, along with other islands in this area of the Atlantic Ocean, affected by their proximity to the Mid Atlantic Rift and their respective positions atop seamounts.

Eruptions of underwater super-volcanoes are explosive, of short duration, and capable of producing thousands of cubic kilometers of volcanic ash and pumice in the form of so-called pillow lava that is characteristic of many submarine eruptions. In these volcanoes, when the breached magma chamber supplying the ash and pumice is leaves the caldera quickly, the caldera collapses, leaving a large, deep crater that can be of depths of hundreds to thousands of meters deeper from where they were originally. The collapse is fast, and much of the erupted material falls back into the caldera. The collapse of submarine, seamount-based, submerged super-volcanoes leaves floating pumice cinders as the result of explosive submarine eruptions that caused massive earthquakes on the Azores Plateau and in other places, possibly as far away as Italy, Greece and in North and South America.

Phreatomagmatic eruptions also called Hydrovolcanism or hydrothermal eruptions are the mixing of water with magma making super-heated steam and amplifying the power of an eruption. The Atlantis Location Hypothesis necessitates that Atlantis sank from an underwater super-volcanic eruption that also caused existing sub-aerial volcanoes with more shallow and smaller calderas to erupt. Such volcanoes were above the surface of the Atlantic Ocean for a short time and were subject to Base Surge deposits from below and above the water surface sliding into the caldera that is left filling it in both initially and as the tufts of material collapse with erosion best described by Heiken and Fisher in their work with hydrovulcanism.

Evidence exists of remnants of a large volcanic structure remnant (caldera system) of undetermined size in the Azores plateau beneath the Terceira rift in the Azores.

The number of volcanoes erupting simultaneously on the Azores Plateau 12,000 years ago is describing a supervolcanic eruption fed by the caldera under the seamount. Most of this eruption occurred underwater, and the remainder occurred in a sub-aerial manner. The entire area over the various seamounts that had islands to some extent experienced catastrophic landslides that have been known to generate significant tsunami activity. Such occurrences can generate significant flooding and catastrophe both locally and at far distances from this area of the Atlantic ocean. The destruction must have been tremendous and the extermination of life must have meant extinction for local species that inhabited the area as well as some others at a distance at that time.

The circumstances of the eruptions that caused the subsidence of Atlantis involved many volcanoes. The part of the super-eruption that occurred underwater was the most violent by this hypothesis, a Pheratic eruption or a Phreatomagmatic eruption. The some of the sub-aerial eruptions were magmatic eruptions.

"Some volcanoes may exhibit only one characteristic type of eruption during a period of activity, while others may display an entire sequence of types all in one eruptive series."

Since this super-eruption involved many volcanoes, it is logical to assume that the super-eruption that caused the subsidence of Atlantis exhibited many types of eruptions, since it was a super-eruption and the consequences of the eruption were so profound. Just as the eruption of Mt. St. Helens has taught us lessons, the Atlantis subsidence that caused the end of the last ice age in the Holocene Epoch is a unique opportunity to learn, even after 12,000 years.

Deposits Along the Coast of France Left in the Late Quaternary Epoch

Deposits of 1.6 meters thickness described as occurring in the late Quaternary along the coastal region of France Pg. 161 aNovember 2015 (UTC)

Further to the Azores hypothesis, here are a couple more supporting points:
The following contribution was added to the talk page quite some time ago. It discusses the glaciation particulars of the North Atlantic, North America and Northern Europe during the last period of glaciation prior to 10 - 12 thousand years ago. This is the epoch when Atlantis is being postulated to have existed in the mid-Atlantic by Plato's writings.

Thanks, Entrepic, for your contribution.


 * 1) The weight of the glaciers on the continents. Consider the glacial mass of a 2-4 km cap of ice on top of Canada, the Great Lakes and New England regions of the US, Northern Europe, Northern Russia, and Northwest Siberia. This is equivalent to an ocean on top of the northern continents. Additional glacial weight would have been exerted on the southern Andes, and on mountains throughout the world. Here are a couple maps of the northern hemisphere during the Last Glacial Maximum circa 22,000 YA, and the relevant Wikipedia page:
 * 2) * http://www.qpg.geog.cam.ac.uk/images/WorldLGMm.jpg
 * 3) * http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/ctl/images/iceage01.jpg
 * 4) * Last Glacial Maximum
 * 5) Please note the glaciation was focused on the North Atlantic / North Sea region. This indicates that something was disrupting the Gulf Stream. Here's a couple maps of the stream-flow, and the relevant Wikipedia page:
 * 6) * http://dma.aq.upm.es/profesor/galan_p/investigacion/oceanos/imagenes/currents_north_atlantic.jpg
 * 7) * https://web.archive.org/web/20140827082307/http://marine.coastal.edu/gulfstream/path.jpg
 * 8) * Gulf Stream
 * 9) Commons:File:Gulfstream.jpg

This map from Wikipedia clearly illustrates the relationship between the Azores Plateau and the Gulf stream. Please note that if the Azores Plateau were above the surface of the North Atlantic that it would at least partially obstruct the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream would then not reach the shoreline of Western Europe as it does today. That would affect the climate and it would be much colder in that area of the world.

Without the warm waters of the Caribbean reaching the Northern Atlantic, Europe would freeze, and the flow of frigid waters from the Labrador Sea would freeze the Atlantic coast of North America as far south as New York. Iceland is a large igneous province created by a plume (essentially a super-volcano) not a continental fragment, therefore if it was covered in a glacier several kilometres thick, it should sink under the weight. Magmatic displacement from both Iceland, and the continents to the east and west of the North Atlantic would have placed stress on the Mid-Atlantic Rise (MAR), as well as other volcanically active areas. Consider the information in the following article:
 * http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/supervolcanoes-erupt-by-t/

While the article is about super-volcanoes in general, the information is relevant to the MAR. If molten rock accumulated under the MAR its buoyancy would simply lift the MAR, as the region only has water above it, which is both lighter than continental rock, and easily displaced.

An ice bridge existed during the most recent glaciation that connected Northern Europe and North America.

Entripic's Conclusion: Atlantis' rising and falling could be the cause of the repeated glaciations of the last few million years.

Entrepic (discuss • contribs) 09:40, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

Adding to Entrepic's post, there is a lot of recent research into the melting of glaciers

The converse statement of Entrepic's Conclusion is, "The repeated glaciations of the last few million years could be the cause of Atlantis' rising and falling."

Could the converse statement be true? According to the principle of "Glacial Isostatic Adjustment " the converse statement is also true.

What remained of Atlantis' culture and sea port settlements after Atlantis sank from an underwater supervolcanic eruption was flooded also by glacier melt, landslide tsunamis and suffered other significant catastrophes as a result of this eruption, earthquakes and other disasters which resulted from the Gulf Stream taking a more northerly path. It turns out that glaciers can melt very rapidly after a "Tipping Point" is reached.

To understand this concept, watch the video...
 * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71l9lzLsBRc

Post-glacial rebound has played a significant part in the descent of Atlantis. As the lithosphere rose throughout the world and meltwater pulses devastated civilizations on the continental shelves throughout the world the ocean levels rose inundating former areas with sea level rise. The reduction of magma pressure on the Mid Atlantic Rift along with glacial meltwater increasing the water volume of the ocean has contributed to the deepening of the Atlantic.

THE GULF STREAM CIRCULATION IN THE ATLANTIC DETERMINES WEATHER PATTERNS
A missing proof up to this point of this hypothesis is the fact that the Gulf Stream circulation creates or controls weather patterns throughout the world. The change in patterns of ocean circulation change the weather patterns. This is especially true when greenhouse gasses, water vapor and particulate matter supplied by multiple Plinian eruptions both underwater and subaerial are ejected into the Earth's atmosphere which happens during a supereruption, even if the largest and most significant portion of the eruption occurred underwater.

In fact, "Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models (AOGCMs) reproduces observed precipitation extremes reasonably well over North America"

Marshallsumter and I had a conversation on the Atlantis Hypothesis talk page regarding if it was possible that the changes in the Gulf Stream circulation could have caused the climate change that made the Sahara a desert in Northern Africa. Modern meteorologists have determined by research that changes in ocean circulation causes changes in world weather patterns. I think that when the subject was brought up we both knew the answer to the question. It is a scientific fact that volcanic eruptions changes weather patterns. It has been historically and scientifically documented numerous times. These changes can be temporary. However, a weather pattern change due to ocean circulation change last as long as the change in the ocean circulation remains unless other factors intervene.

CLIMATE CHANGES WERE CAUSED BY THE ERUPTION AND RESULTANT SEA LEVEL CHANGES
The controversy today over Climate Change is a significant argument in favor of Atlantis. Undoubtedly, the climate began to change 11,700 years ago. The events that caused the Azores Plateau to be under the surface of the Atlantic caused immense changes in the Earth's Climate that must have occurred very quickly owing to the changes in the gulf stream direction that contributed to mass extinctions from that period. If Plato's time frame is correct the demise of Atlantis occurred in the same period as the beginning of the end of the last Ice Age that resulted in much flooding from glacier melting. The relationship between these two events has been established mathematically and with existing research in this meta analysis. The chronological proximity of the two events can no longer justifiably be denied.

This means that civilization was dealt two blows that mankind would have needed thousands of years from which to recover. The flooding of the lands adjacent to the oceans of the world would have drowned cities and ports throughout the world. The changes in climate along with the mass extinctions would cause negative human population growth. Thus, a world-wide disaster regressed mankind back to the age of the hunter-gatherer as the super-eruption disaster in Toba did 58,000 years prior to the subsidence of Atlantis but without the same degree of human population reduction because the eruption was under water.

It is possible that some living today could see a similar version of this Atlantean catastrophe that drowned ports and communities close to the world's oceans unfold in their lifetimes? The mass migrations caused by flooding and weather pattern change could again cause mass migrations to higher ground, famine from weather changes and starvation of humanity on a massive scale. Although, man's technology should leave humanity with the tools to attenuate this somewhat.

http://climatenewsnetwork.net/antarctic-peaks-reveal-sea-rise-threat/

youtube video of Antartic calving event. https://www.youtube.com/embed/hC3VTgIPoGU?rel=0

Recent Research Suggests That volcanic Islands on the Azores Plateau Are Still Prone to Flank Collapse
Graciosa island is the subject of the research entitled Construction and destruction of a volcanic island developed inside an oceanic rift: Graciosa Island, Terceira Rift, Azores

This research shows that Graciosa was originally a much larger island. Owing to its location on the Terceira Rift it is much smaller now because landslides have occurred. See the image on the right for a good illustration of the original size of Graciosa before the most recent landslide. The implication is that the top of the Azores Plateau is no longer stable enough to support the land mass of a large island. If the plateau had an island on its top at one time massive land slides have caused the island and the material of the island to collapse into the caldera. So all that is left are the islands that formed from the volcanoes that have erupted 12,000 years ago as Atlantis receded below the Atlantic Ocean and volcanic eruptions that have occurred since then. That is why the material from the landslide that minimized the size of Graciosa most recently is no longer present underwater on the top of the plateau. It is in the old caldera beneath the plateau just as the mountain range missing at Yellowstone Park, Wyoming is in the Yellowstone caldera from the eruption of 200 million years ago.

DISCUSSION


The relatively new field of Climate Change Science contributes significantly to this Atlantis location hypothesis. 97% of publishing research climate scientists agree that Climate Change is real and it is happening. In addition, The National Geographic Society web site Doggerland -- The Europe That Was adds evidence to the fact that ocean levels and coastlines are NOT stable with time, and significant changes have occurred before written history that have relegated these facts to the oral tradition of mankind. Thus, although not yet completely accepted, oral traditions like the one called "Atlantis" are lying in wait for astute researchers to uncover, and add to historical fact just like the legend of Troy and the Hellenic Wars that occurred at a later time have been.

Unlike the speculation regarding possible Atlantis locations on Wikipedia derived from careful work in archaeological ruins still above water today, this location hypothesis depends upon the emerging field of climate change which fits Plato's timeline stated in his writings. It is further supported by recently developed geologic imaging methods using seismic imaging models based upon medicine that are collectively called seismic tomography. These new methods use the seismic waves from earthquakes and computerized imaging algorithms used in modern medicine to construct three dimensional imaging from mathematical Fourier series based upon the careful timing of the "P" waves in a seismographic record of earthquakes. It is cutting edge geological science derived from the principles of Computerized Axial Tomography.

Original research supporting the location of Atlantis in the Azores was published by Pierre Termier (1859-1930). The original lecture was delivered to the Oceanographic Institute of Paris on Nov. 30,1912. It was published in the Annals of the Smithsonian Institution in 1915 and printed in 1916 It was disputed several times by two other scientists making the claim that Plato made an error in the date and location or outright fabricated the whole story. Termier's English version may be read in a translation by Jason Colivito The refutation by Charles Schubert claimed that the Azores Islands had formed by volcanic eruptions and denies that Atlantis or any large island ever existed in the Azores.

The opinion of Edwin Swift Balch flatly states that the geologic evidence of a large island in the middle of the Atlantic may be quite accurate but he places the time period for this island in the Eocene, the Miocene, or perhaps the Pliocene epochs, according to the uncertainty of professional geologists of the time period of his refutation in 1917. His admission in his argument places the existence of the Atlantic island at no earlier than 500,000 years before present. It may be found in the 14th paragraph of the following reference. Much progress in the field of geology has been made in the last 100 years since 1917. Just as the timing of Plato's Timaeus and Critias is said to be inaccurate the time period of the MAR being above the water is also being said to be inaccurate. Any fact that did not fit their beliefs were automatically called inaccurate with little or no facts to support their assertions. It is appropriate to revisit this subject using the tools of today's geologists instead of "traditionally" dismissing Atlantis as not factual on the basis of 100 year-old conclusions. This is especially true since the descriptions of Plato, the end of the most recent ice age, climate change science and the discovery of the existence of what is being termed "Supervolcanoes" all over the world seems to be fitting together to help to supply scientific evidence to support Plato's story.

It was concluded in Wikipedia Atlantis Location Hypothesis that the geological evidence did not exist to prove that Atlantis could have existed on or about the Azores Plateau or Azores Archipelago. It is also stated that there was no (known) geological mechanisms that could have caused the sinking or the raising of the area in the Azores Archipelago at that intersection with the Mid Atlantic Rift ignoring climate change science, the principles of "Glacial Isostatic Adjustment " and the most recent ice age. This ignores the science of Post Glacial Rebound. If the landmass underwater at the Atlantic Rift were above the ocean surface it is clear from the images on the left that the warmth of the gulf stream that is responsible for the moderate climate in the northern latitudes of the Atlantic would be blocked. This would result in a climate that is much colder since the gulf stream would be turned back upon itself and returned back to the equator.

The controversy regarding the age of the Earth enters into the age of Atlantis. It has raged for many years and the Atlantis Location Hypothesis is not part of the controversy. However, any mention of global floods causes resistance in some to resist the science behind the proofs regardless. This is not a new thing in science. The problem known as Gradualism verses Catastrophism may to the Atlantis Location Hypothesis. As we have witnessed in recent news today, floods do not have to cover the Earth to be catastrophic. The one after the last glacier age affected the entire world, but it did not cover the entire world.

It is a fact that modern history has been recorded in the current glacial period and that the ocean levels have not significantly changed. In addition, research by the National Science Foundation's Paleoclimate Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Paleoclimatology and Polar Programs, the National Aeronautic and Space Administration, Gary Comer Foundation, the Ohio State University's Climate, Water and Carbon Program and Byrd Polar Research Center has concluded that global warming, climate change and resulting seal level change presents a clear and present danger to humanity worldwide.

Regardless of the absence of documentation of primitive civilizations in the earlier ages of man by popular archaeology on the underwater ocean shelves all over the world, much work has been done and is being done to chart the ages of man that is not recorded as a historical record. It is the opposition to the realization that mankind has existed for well over a million years that drives the resistance to the acceptance of written records of Atlantis handed down from Plato that places the end of Atlantis in the Atlantic approximately 12,000 years ago around the area of the Azores archipelago. Geologists claim that a huge lake drained in South America between 13,000 and 8,000 years ago as a result of end of the last Ice Age. The fresh water from this lake was enough to desalinize the Pacific Ocean and change Ocean currents.

Between 13,000 and 15,000 years ago Lake Missoula caused massive flooding numerous times dumping its contents of meltwater into the Columbia river basin. The cycles of refilling and draining from ice dam failure took an average of 55 years and occurred many times during the 2,000 year period of the ending of the last Ice Age in North America. Recent research suggests that many occurrences of these "Outburst Floods" were prevalent throughout the world

Lake Agassiz in North America was larger and contained more fresh water than the whole Great Lakes system combined. When a Glacial ice dam failed this huge lake drained into the Atlantic basin. This happened several times between 8,000 to 13,000 years ago causing a rise in global sea levels. Recent research suggests that Great Britain and other areas around the North Sea and English Channel were connected by dry land to Europe up until until approximately the time period given by Plato for the demise of Atlantis. Locating Atlantis in the Azores as Plato said has been denied in information sources such as Wikipedia despite the overwhelming evidence that rising waters after the most recent Glacier Age has caused sea level rise and dry land has disappeared and coastlines have changed all over the world. As presented, sometimes these changes came slowly and other times they came very rapidly as the sinking of Atlantis was described by Plato. Atlantis, it is being hypothesized, was the victim of such flooding after succumbing to a supervolcanic eruption. In addition, slowly, as the pressure of the weight of miles of ice over North America was removed, the continent of North America has slowly rose as the Atlantic basins have slowly deepened.

Wikipedia gives a list of mass extinctions 11,000 years ago in North America

There is evidence of Icebergs off the coast of Florida at the end of the last Ice Age owing to meltwater pulses shutting down the Gulf Stream which carries warmth to the North Atlantic.

The evidence cited in the provided references for climate change and flooding at the end of the last Glacier Age has become a political controversy, not to mention a religious controversy in society today.

Similar episodes of new research did not stay mere hypotheses for long. Included are things that are widely accepted now and form the foundations of our modern science and support indispensable technology we use every day. Man's habits have changed little. Then, as today, ancient man loved to live near the ocean and even fresh bodies of water. Accepted research now indicates that the generations of man existed in lands now submerged on continental shelves all around the world. The oral tradition created so-called "myths" that when written down tell stories. One of these stories is the story of Atlantis. These lost civilizations are only now being discovered. There is much evidence of such civilizations rising and falling along with changing coastlines all over the world. I will present those stories as I find them hunting for Atlantis using the methodologies of science, some of which are still emerging into acceptance. Small wonder that individuals have believed that they have found evidence of Atlantis locations throughout the world. If climate change occurred in the past, it was surely accompanied by significant sea level change as glaciers and polar ice caps froze and thawed along with glaciers from Earth's many known periods of glaciation cycles. There are no volcanoes in Florida. Neither are there any mantle plumes. However, one need only to take Florida as an example of sea level rise and fall due to glaciation. Florida was much wider and larger at the end of the last ice age. It had twice the land area and the climate was cooler and drier. A significant number of species of animals went extinct approximately 11,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age in North America. The changing shoreline of Florida is a well-documented fact.

The research presented here shows that two mantle plumes could exist in the Azores archipelago area or that lithosphere is melting and combining with the updwelling magma from a single mantle plume. . It will show that the area is constantly subjected to earthquakes on the sea floor. This area is constantly monitored and the number, strength and location of these earthquakes are being recorded. Generally, such activity is associated with magma in a deep caldera moving about. It shows similarities to the supervolcano at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, USA. Scientists with open minds can then decide using this evidence about the coincidence of Plato stating that Atlantis sank in this area and the existence of the Mid Atlantic Rift, the conjunction or intersection of 3 tectonic plates and the 2 mantle plumes present here. The area has enough geological structures that are active enough even today to cause the kind of tragedy that is described as Atlantis in the writings of antiquity. Archaeological evidence of Atlantis here, if it exists, is now on the floor of the Atlantic and impossible to excavate, leaving us only shallow submerged areas on the continental shelves of the world to explore.

Understanding underwater volcanic eruptions is essential to understanding the demise of Atlantis in the Azores. Then, understanding how the unique structures in and around the Azores Plateau when it was the island of Atlantis allows the understanding of how this volcanic super-eruption caused the plateau to become immersed. After the Gulf stream was no longer turned back toward the equator, it bathed the northern parts of the Atlantic basin. Remember, we are describing a supervolcanic eruption which was at least a VEI 8, and probably much larger. After the initial eruption, which began as a deep water eruption, which changed the relationship of the mid-Atlantic Rift and the intersection of the 3 tectonic plates, causing the Azores Plateau to seperate from the African plate allowing this section of continental lithospere to sink into the caldera that was supplying eruptive magma to the supereruption. The island sank causing the initial flooding. The eruption then evolved into a shallow eruption, causing disruption of the atmosphere, but not atrue Plinian eruption. More steam was released which caused immediate disruptions in world weather patterns. The solids erupting from the supervolcanic eruption remained in the water as floating pumice causing the statement in Plato's Timaeus, "... the sea in those parts is impassable and impenetrable, because there is a shoal of mud in the way; and this was caused by the subsidence of the island..."

This discussion is about whether Atlantis existed and the possible location of Atlantis in the Azores. 10,000 to 12,000 years BCE water levels were lower than they were today. The Anthropocene Epoch is described as the period from 14,000 years before present (BP) to 1945 A.D. For the purposes of describing the demise of Atlantis it could be considered that Atlantis sank at approximately the beginning of this epoch. However, it could be problematic attempting to fix the exact chronological period when Atlantis Sank. Recent research into glacier melting related to climate change suggests that the rate of ocean rise is not a precisely predictable nor is it a steady event. Rather, the flooding from glacier melt comes in pulses. So, in addition to the volcanic activity of a supervolcanic eruption, there was this flooding event that could possibly be not directly related to the volcanic activity, but yet affected by it. The melting of the glaciers had worldwide lowland flooding consequences. Hence, as today, with 40% of the world's population living on land near an ocean, a disaster would arise if the sea level changed. The land near the world's seas and oceans became submerged from the glacier melt, so the majority of the population of the world was displaced and reduced to refugee status, in some cases fleeing a so-called "pulse" of flooding. Such a "pulse" would cause mass causalities, disease, starvation, and social instability that would cause conflict. However, given the location of the Azores, the predisposition of volcanic eruptions to have accompanying earthquakes and earthquakes to cause tsunamis, the precise combination and sequencing of events that caused the Azores plateau to sink as well as the human population to flee for their lives in what vessels were available, could be problematic. In such dire circumstances high death tolls and the disruption of civilizations as they existed at that time were a certainty. We may be seeing the beginnings of sea level rise today. Of course, mankind's civilization was reduced to a hunter-gatherer stage after this tragedy.

The map on the upper left is a bathymetric or hydrographic map of the ocean floor of the North Atlantic as it exists today. This map is constructed from U.S. Navy data. It is obvious that the floor of the Atlantic is elevated along the  M id  A tlantic  R ift from Iceland to well South of the Azores. In addition, it is easy to see the Azores Plateau and the area surrounding it. If you click on it you can see a larger more detailed version of the map. On the larger version you can make out the locations of interest to you. Remember, this is a under water depth map, and it is color coded by depth. The map directly under the hydrographic map is a map of the entire Azores Archipelago. You may click your mouse on any or all of these maps to see a larger version.

It is apparent that the Azores plateau is still significantly elevated from the ocean floor or the Abyssal Plane to the East and to the West of the  MAR . It is now under water. Evidence exists that it was not completely under water during the last glaciation. Evidence exists that it has had a climate change. That is what this discussion is about. In addition, recent research and knowledge accumulated about volcanic eruption both on the floor of the oceans and on land has raised suspicions that demand re-examination of the so-called Atlantis Myth. Might it have the same existence as the fabled city of Troy before the actual site was discovered? Respect for the oral traditions of early man, known geology, recent research and revelations in volcanology regarding supervolcanoes make re-examination of facts practical. However, prediction and followup of supervolcanic eruptions is problematic. The size of under water caldera systems under the ocean floor is hard to accurately construct from P wave data acquisition because of being under water and the Azores Plateau thickness. Click on the back arrow to get back to this page. Read about the caldera at the following website. http://www.mantleplumes.org/AzoresWet.html

M. Ewing wrote that beach sand from prehistoric times was brought up in two deep sea cores, one from 3 km and the other from 5.5 km. These two cores came from an area over 1000 km from the coast on the Mid-Atlantic-Ridge. There were two layers in one core of sand which dated according to sedimentation rates at 20,000 to 100,000 years and in the other at 225,000 to 325,000 years.

R.W.Kobe found numerous diatoms from freshwater on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from several cores that were taken over 900 km distance from the coast of Equatorial West Africa. He claimed that this was evidence that the area in question was islands 10 – 12,000 years ago. The diatoms that he found he said were deposited as sediment in fresh water lakes which were later inundated under 3km of sea water. He states that this was a more plausible explanation than the claim that turbidity currents had moved the diatoms 930 km along the sea bottom and then lifted them up over 1000 km and deposited them on a the top of a submerged hill.

B.C. Heezen et. al. reports that at 37 degrees North the Atlantis seamount located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is flat topped at a depth of around 180 fathoms and has a current-rippled sand and or cobbles. Around a ton of limestone cobbles were brought up from the summit a sample of which gave a radio-carbon date of 12,000+/- 900 years. B.C. Heezen and colleagues states that that the limestone was lithified in a location above the water and that his is evidence that the seamount had once been an island but was submerged in the last 12,000 years

There is much evidence of of a warming period beginning at the end of the last glacier age 12,000 years ago at the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary. Or, approximately 2,000 years from the beginning of the Anthropocene epoch. This climate change is evidenced by a worldwide change in the character of deep-sea sedimentation, a marine transgression evidenced by radio-carbon dating, deep sea cores that reveal color changes, changes in foraminiferans that are indicative of changes in plankton and by migration of foraminiferans 1000 to 3000 km toward the poles seeking cooler waters. In the case of mid-latitude ice sheets once melting starts, the ice disappears at a tremendous rate. The melt rate reached a maximum about 8000 bp, liberating 18 trillion (18 × 1012) metric tons of meltwater annually. This corresponds to a rise in sea level of five centimetres per year. Throughout this pre-history period the geologic record reveals many cyclic rise and fall cycles in ocean levels throughout the world.

Anthropocene Epoch
The most interesting thing about the Anthropocene Epoch is that it fits approximately with Plato's description of the rise of multiple settlements of humanity around the world after the time he fixes the demise of Atlantis. It also fits approximately with the end of the last ice age in North America and around the world. The take-away from the Atlantis Location Hypothesis is that mankind has seen the rise and fall of world civilizations before the present one in which we are living. There may have been more, but this one, Atlantis, is the only one that we can hope to prove with existing evidence at present.

This hypothesis exists upon the remnant fragments which we can to construct what existed then using the scientific research that exists today. A manuscript from Yale University on line presented the Azores Islands as remnants of Atlantis. More modern research seems to push this observation aside but it is historic, significant and from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences presented February 15, 1917. The location of the Azores as the remnants of Atlantis is not a new scientific idea. It is an old one. Today with the advent of what is being termed a "Supervolcano" we how have a plausible explanation of Plato's description of Atlantis that places Atlantis and the disaster that claimed it in a real time and place. This Atlantic location of Atlantis in the Azores may never rise to the level of proof enough to satisfy every skeptic. However, you cannot pick and choose which part of Plato's writings you accept and which parts you do not accept. Either it is history or it is not. Plato may have embellished it to a degree, but from the geography and location, it is unlikely he made up the location because of the geology part of has only recently become known to science, especially in the light of recent scientific research that shows the potential in the Azores for significant catastrophic events. This hypothesis recognizes the significance of that geologic activity. This activity is significant enough to demand risk assessments to protect today's residents of the area. If Atlantis did exist, it likely existed when Plato said it did and where he said that it did. Did you consider if any other proposed location for Atlantis represents a risk to humanity today significant enough to demand a ongoing risk assessment? Otherwise, you must consider if you may be using this legend for your own gain.RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs)

Applications of Alferd Wegener's Theory of Continental Drift
The most formidable problem with Atlantis' sinking into the Atlantic Ocean is not the hypothesizing of how it might occur as described by Plato as a historian, but instead it is the inflexibility of mind of the typical scientists and their societies and organizations who cling so tenaciously to structures of science that have been accepted through years of pinning research down inflexibly to existing theories and attitudes. This forces patterns and structures that pits one theory against another leaving no room for compromise until the evidence is overwhelming, crushing a theory with a revolution of thought that may only have needed adjusted to be properly appreciated and understood. This delays the progress of humanity, but it is unavoidable because of the human condition. This does seem to be a part of the human condition because the same thing occurs in all of mankind's efforts, be they scientific, social, traditional or simply customary behaviors within a society. This resistance has been attenuated due to acceptance of the Alvarez Theory of Dinosaur Extinction.

When these paradigm shifts occur in scientific thinking the traditionalists see these new ideas as a threat to science rather than the small cracking of a facade that will reveal a universal truth when the upper crusts break away revealing the foundations that support them. This tends to stymie and stifle scientific revolutions until they grow strong enough to upend tradition and push it to the wayside with overwhelming scientific evidence. Theoretical proof through mathematics and/or logic are sometimes not enough proof for the traditionalists to give up their long-held ideas. Experimental methods must also support the new hypotheses. The history of science is littered with the names of scientists who like the prophets of religion were never appreciated in their own lifetimes. Immanuel Velikovsky, Alferd Wegener and yes, even Albert Einstein to a certain degree encountered the traditionalists who never never properly appreciated not the scientist, but the science. Scientific ideas of scientists such as Charles Darwin still are attacked but true science can always stand on its own despite constant challenge and opposition. Eventually, new science will prevail over traditional suppression, also. This is not to suggest that this is wrong, it is the recognition that new hypotheses must be allowed to survive so that science can progress.

You see, scientists are never too concerned with the acceptance of their ideas. They seek the ideas themselves, leaving a legacy for others to build upon, just as they have stood upon previous ideas and examples to formulate their own hypotheses. The scientist just lumbers on painting the world as he sees it like some artistic VanGogh, proudly painting their vision of the world for all to see, listening, studying, easily lending an ear, but almost never getting one in return.

There are many hypotheses to the location of ancient Atlantis, or discussions and hypotheses as to whether it really ever existed. Many of these discussions and controversies are long-standing. Some location hypotheses could be related to Atlantis in the Atlantic and some definitely are not.

Keep in mind that the National Science Foundation is conducting research into supervolcanoes that are located on the ocean floor. According to the article describing this research the so-called Azores plateau is a supervolcano just as any other underwater plateau. . Also, since 80% of volcanic eruptions on the planet Earth are located under water, we are just beginning to find underwater volcanoes. The alternate theory regarding the formation of underwater plateaus is moot for the Azores Plateau. "P" wave tomography has revealed a caldera and a plume under the Azores Plateau. In addition, geologic samples has revealed that the rock being sampled was delivered by a mantle plume because of it's physical and chemical makeup.

A Large Geologically Ancient Caldera Exists Below the Azores Plateau
The volcanoes of Sao Miguel are described as six volcanic zones. The map of the island reveals that three main areas of volcanic activity exist, one on each end of the island and one in the middle. It is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful places on Earth. But the beauty of this place is underscored by the structures under the Azores Plateau upon which it resides that covers an area of 400,000 sq.Km. Under the Azores Plateau lies a super volcanic system with a huge caldera fed by at least one and possibly two mantle plumes.

The three stratovolcanoes on Sao Miguel (the island is named after an arch-angel) are Sete Cidades, Agua de Pau and Furnas. Cutting to the chase, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1900, Geology of Three Late Quaternary Stratovolcanoes on Sao Miguel, Azores by Richard B. Moore states that Furnas was formed entirely within the last 100,000 years. This is stated in the Abstract and Furnas' caldera is only 12,000 years old. Elsewhere in this site Pico was formed at approximately the same time in a VEI 5 eruption. Pico, the highest peak in the Atlantic is a stratovolcano characterized by flank eruptions, such as the one at Mt. St. Helens in the U.S. in 1980

The point I want to make is that both Fogo and Pico, volcanoes on two separate islands in the Azores, erupted simultaneously 12,000 years ago. Pico was formed then and Fogo had its present caldera formed then. That is not all. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1900, Geology of Three Late Quaternary Stratovolcanoes on Sao Miguel, Azores by Richard B. Moore states on page 20 that Syenite Xenoliths as large as 0.5 meters in diameter are found in the alluvial deposits of all of the volcanoes on Sao Miguel. Since the caldera of Furnas is only 12,000 years old, Syenite Xenoliths found in this caldera must be from somewhere else. Most likely, they are from the caldera under the Azores Plateau that is fed by Mantle Plumes.

Syenite Xenoliths are always partially composed of older, crystalline igneous rock. These rocks have formed in the crevasses of a caldera and are the products of a mantle plume. Since Xenoliths were found in the 12,000 year old outflow from Furnas, this indicates a volcanic supereruption must have occurred at that time, 12,000 years ago from the supervolcano under the Azores Plateau. Furthermore, since Pico erupted with a VEI of 5, but it was not the only volcano erupting at that time, Furnas also erupted. In addition, eruptions must have occurred underwater, not only because Plato described pumice floating beyond the Pillars of Hercules for some time after the eruption leaving the waters unnavigable, but something caused the glaciers to melt, the ocean levels world wide to rise and the ice age to end.

RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 04:29, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

TECTONIC SUBSIDENCE
Atlantis could have existed as an island, a remnant of continental crust platform that submerged as a result of Tectonic Subsidence. Multiple geologic structures can cause scenarios where Tectonic Subsidence occurs. the Crustal Thinning Hypothesis is where a plate platform is gradually consumed from below by plastic necking of magma from below melting the lithosphere from below. Many processes that can result in Tectonic Subsidence exist. Tectonic Subsidence can also occur as a result of a passive method where passive margins contain continental sediment that can be removed by geologic activity or even changing ocean currents.

A WATER AND MAGMA MIX - THE PRINCIPLE OF HYDROVOLCANISM COULD INCREASE THE FORCE OF A VOLCANIC ERUPTION
The possibility of the mixing of sea water and magma in a caldera during a volcanic eruption on the ocean floor creating super-heated steam cannot be ignored. Such an occurrence could significantly increase the force of any volcanic eruption on the ocean floor especially a Plinian supervolcanic eruption in the Azores.

RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 01:51, 28 April 2017 (UTC)

The Separation of Corvo and Flores from the other Azores Islands by the Mid Atlantic Rift
Corvo and Flores are located over the North American tectonic plate. If indeed the Azores Islands are all the peaks of the island (or continent) of Atlantis, then the land would have had to been above the ocean surface and the Mid Atlantic Rift would have ran through the body of land from North to South. Under the body of land would have existed an immense caldera, perhaps the biggest one that ever existed on the Earth. Keep in mind the fact that a Mantle Plume or Hotspot does not move in relationship to the core of the Earth. Rather, the surface of the Earth moves across it.

The significant unknown is the rate of spreading of the MAR. Every resource tends to give an average spread rate for the MAR which seems to vary in addition, this variation tends to cause a variation in crustal thicknesses of the ocean floor. This means that the MAR must spread at different rates along its length producing varying crustal thicknesses. Furthermore, none of these rate are constant. This is evidenced by the various horizontal fault lines along the ocean bottom that extend from East to West (or West to East). These signify the variations in MAR spread rates along the MAR from North to South. MAR spread can be expressed only in average spread rates. The proposed location of a mantle 'hot spot' is close to Terceira just east of the Mid Atlantic Rift (MAR).

Corvo, being the smaller of the two that are separated from the rest of the 7 Azores islands, is approximately 6km X 4km in size and it has a surface area of 17 - 12 km2. Presently, it has a caldera that has erupted numerous times in Strombolian and Plinian eruptions. It started as a shield volcano and its later series of eruptions as a stratovolcano left the caldera open and collapsed. All of the lava flows over time studied on Corvo make it evident that the various lava flows originated from the same source. According to previous references, the Corvo caldera was filled by a magma chamber approximately 15 km below it which was supplied by one or both of the mantle plumes that supplies the various calderas of other islands of the Azores archipelago. This crossing was described as being accomplished by magma conduits. P. 791.

RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 01:54, 11 June 2016 (UTC)

A Listing of Volcanoes Erupting in the Azores Archipelago 10 - 14,000 years ago
The purpose of this listing is to support the claim of a super-eruption causing the subsidence of the Azores Plateau below the surface of the Atlantic. Since Pico stratovolcano was formed in this eruption, and it is listed in research as a VEI 5, a simultaneous eruption of a group of the volcanoes of the Azores Archipelago could create a VEI of immense proportions, especially if hydrovolcanism is involved. This, in turn, could cause the subsidence of the Azores Plateau and Atlantis to sink into the Atlantic ocean.

On the Agua de Pau (also known as Fogo) Massif Ribeira Cha located on Serra de Água de Pau on the island of São Miguel was created from an abrupt eruption 8 - 12,000 years ago.

The Sete Cidades Massif On the island of São Miguel erupted many times during the time period in question. There exists geological evidence for pyroclastic density currents associated with three or four Plinian eruptions but the pyroclastic flows are sparse. These pyroclastic flows are said to have eroded or to have been confined to channels. RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 03:15, 27 September 2016 (UTC)

Pico Island and it's Stratovolcano of the same name, which is the highest elevation in the Atlantic basin, both seem to have formed in a large eruption 12-14k years before present. Both Pico and Faial islands in the Azores seem to both be possessing some volcanic secrets not mentioned in that both still have a common caldera under the ocean floor. The entire Azores Plateau seemed to share a large caldera that was capable of supplying magma to an eruption in excess of a VEI 8. When the caldera collapsed, so did most of the larger island of Atlantis, leaving only small remnants of this former very large caldera.

(list will populate as time permits with references)

In a super-volcanic eruption multiple volcanoes erupt simultaneously. The resulting discharge of material can contribute to the estimate of the VEI associated with the eruption.

RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 03:43, 26 May 2016 (UTC)

Occurrences
The Azores are still a very geologically active area with a significant hazard potential to residents. Safety monitoring is taken seriously and potential exists for disasters from geological activity. Click below to confirm activity.


 * Seismic Activity in the Azores Plateau

Geologic
Underwater Volcanic Eruptions

80% of all volcanic eruptions occur underwater, on the floor of the Earth's oceans.

It is not a well-know fact, however, for every volcanic eruption found there statistically has to be 4 more that occurred on an ocean floor, somewhere. See: http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-videos/submarine-volcanoes-erupting

SUPERVOLCANO Eruptions

Since the Azores islands are located on a underwater plateau that is on or near to an underwater supervolcano caldera, it behooves one to familiarize themselves with supervolcanoes and their characteristics and behaviors before one considers Atlantis not to be in the Azores or Atlantis being a fabrication of Plato. http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/364/1845/2055

The fact that the Azores islands are located near or at the conjunction of three tectonic plates, the North American Plate, the European Plate and the Nubian or African Plate is significant. The Mid-Atlantic Rift that is continuously generating new sea floor through an on-going volcanic eruption adds to the geological complexity of this piece of real estate. As if that were not enough the Azores Plateau is atop a piece of lithosphere plugging the caldera of a supervolcano that is fed by a Mantle Plume. In addition, the lava flow is partially melt from the friction of the lithosphere and partially by the Mantle Plume as is evidenced by analyzing the isotope content of the elements composing the rock, the ratios of those elements, the elements themselves and the chemistry of the geological samples from that area.

This IS science. This is cutting edge science. Prominent scientific careers are at stake and prominent scientific careers will be made by scientists who are able to prove certain facts as they have been in the past, whether or not Atlantis existed, let alone if it was in the Azores.

Just because this hypothesis has not been researched to the level theory and/or proof is no reason to write off these geologic facts supporting the hypothesis. It is no reason to find fault with Plato's writings, either. In fact, a supervolcanic eruption underwater at this location would encumber sailing ships for a long time with floating pumice. Since we are talking an underwater Ultra Plinian eruption, such an eruption is beyond the current ability of science to discuss the results. Not enough is known to do this according to the following Wikipedia reference.

RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 16:05, 17 November 2015 (UTC)

Rise in sea level
Sea levels were 200-300 ft lower 10,000B.C. than today. Around, 6,500 B.C. sea levels rose. Some coastlines were 50-100 miles farther out than they are today. RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 02:51, 19 November 2015 (UTC)

The Azores are the only location geologically described in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias for Atlantis
It is probable that since Atlantis was described as a seafaring nation that was a significant military power as Plato described that all of the other locations claimed to be Atlantis through the ages were merely colonies or possessions of this maritime culture. All of the possible locations are near or in the sea. When Atlantis sank civilization in coastal areas must have suffered total devastation. The ruins of these places ended up under water after the glaciers melted in the north, inundating their ruins and moving shorelines inland all over the world, in some cases they were moved inland by hundreds of miles. RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 02:51, 19 November 2015 (UTC)

The Azores Plateau or Islands were described in the writings of Plato as the ancient location of Atlantis. This plateau is located over a rift where tectonic plates pull apart from each other, a caldera and a mantle plume originating in the Earth's core. Could the separation of these plate masses along with a volcanic eruption around 10 thousand years B.C. such as the one that occurred in Yellowstone Park in the U.S. 2 million years ago have caused this plateau to sink? Keep in mind there is no rift valley in Yellowstone Park. There is only the caldera and the mantle plume and ground that rises and falls periodically.

Unlike some other candidates for Atlantis which only have one volcano or even NO volcanoes, the Azores Islands have either one volcano or several volcanoes. On each of the Azores islands, many volcanoes are not extinct, some are dormant and some are active. Check it out here on wikipedia... List of volcanoes in Portugal also, you may want to look over this website http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/portugal.html that lists 15 volcanoes, many considered still active, although if they are associated with a supervolcano and its caldera, plus a mantle plume, I seriously doubt if any listed on either site are truly extinct, but instead they are just dormant. Again, please remember, all of these volcanoes are associated with the mid-Atlantic ridge, 3 continental plates AND a supervolcano caldera that is fed by a mantle plume and lithosphere/tectonic plate interaction, in addition to the MAR seafloor formation.

Following the hypothesis that the Azores area exists over a supervolcano recent research draws the conclusion that the Azores caldera exhibits the same structures under water that exists in Toba in the Pacific and others. The descriptions are drawn from the results of P-wave tomographic studies describes magma resulting from lithospheric friction as well as magma plumes.

This supports the hypothesis that indeed an underwater supervolcano exists at the Azores Plateau that is indeed capable of an eruption of VEI 8.

Mount Pico is the highest mountain in the Atlantic ocean. It is the cone of a Stratovolcano and its formation is about 10,000 years old according to Mount Pico This correlates with the time frame given by Plato in his writings for the demise of Atlantis. Coincidence or confirmation of the accuracy of Plato's story of Atlantis sinking? In addition, tsunamis flooded the Atlantic 8 - 10 k years ago as indicated in this site. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27224243

This would be part of the disturbance in the Atlantic Ocean when Atlantis sank as the result of an underwater Supervolcanic eruption in or near the Azores that caused the demise of Atlantis. There are other records of tsunamis around the Atlantic basin that roughly correspond with Plato's original time line. In addition, there were tsunamis in the Mediterranean sea that also correspond to the time line.

The flood of the Black Sea through the Bosporus occurred around 6-10,000 years ago according to various sources and their estimates. Or, according to http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/ctl/clihis10k.html Could this breach have been the result of tsunamis from the sinking of Atlantis?

To confirm this hypothesis of Atlantis in the Azores only requires one to gather information already available.

J. Garner PhD aka RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs)

Hypothesis by J. Garner PhD
The original discussion of the Azores as a location for Atlantis began on the Azores site in Wikipedia. It evolved over a period of several years, beginning in 2009. Geological correlation started to become apparent to me. Although correlation cannot be used as direct evidence, the evidence seems to be accumulating and science seems to be providing increasing research to uphold this hypothesis. It was moved here so that the discussion might continue, with people discussing not the evidence that Atlantis was located somewhere other than the Azores, and at another time, but that Atlantis was located exactly where Plato said it was located and it existed exactly when he said that it existed. My Master's Degree is in Physics, and my Doctorate is in Education. As time permits, I will add items to support this hypothesis. If you have something that you can document that supports the Azores as the center of Alantean civilization please add it by editing. If you are not sure how to do this leave me a message or go ahead and do your edit and it can be re-formatted later. Or, you can click in a discussion forum and leave it.


 * MAP

'Description of how an entire mountain range estimated to be 12,000 feet high disappeared into the Super Volcano Caldera at Yellowstone National Park USA. '

The part of the interview quoting the information about mountain range sinking into the Yellowstone super volcano caldera is quoted below is quoted below. ''Jake Lowenstern: Across the Valley we see this snow clad range, it is the Gallatin Range, and these are rocks that are far older than the Yellowstone volcano itself. When you get to the south end of the Range that is where the caldera begins for the two point one million year old eruption.''

''Narration: There is an enormous gap in the Mountain Range where it crosses the caldera formed by the first super eruption. For years Scientists could not work out why.''

''Jake Lowenstern: It appears that what happened is that the Range did exist during that time and that it was essentially swallowed up during formation of the caldera two point one million years ago. So the mountain has essentially disappeared.''

Narration: An eruption capable of swallowing an eighty kilometre stretch of mountains is beyond anything we have ever witnessed before .

Dr. Jake Lowenstern is a research geologist with the USGS. (United States Geological Survey). Jake Lowenstern is a scientist-in-charge at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. The U.S. Geological Survey is based in Menlo Park, California. Dr. Lowenstern confirms that a supervolcano such as Yellowstone has no cone but instead has a huge caldera that presents itself at Yellowstone as a huge valley. Dr Lowenstern when asked during an interview about the Yellowstone Caldera swallowing real estate states that the last eruption at Yellowstone swallowed up a 12,000 foot high mountain range 80 Kilometers in length making it disappear by causing it to sink into the caldera.

Thus a mountain range has sank into the Yellowstone Supervolcano Caldera 2.1 million years ago during its last supervolcanic eruption. It is still missing, apparently, just like Atlantis.

RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 02:51, 19 November 2015 (UTC)

The similarity of a hypothesis of Atlantis sinking into the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, beneath which the Azores supervolcanic caldera is located is notable.

Picture the Azores super volcano erupting under water. The ocean floor opens up in a circle-like manner around the Azores plateau that was the original island of Atlantis. The eruption ended up causing the island to sink as Plato described, "...in one terrible day and night" Sinking into the ocean causing terrible disruptions on the ocean surface with tsunamis, extremely large amounts of super-heated steam rising from the ocean and super-heated pumice rock floating to the ocean surface plugging up the surface of the ocean.

This catastrophe ushers in the modern appearance of the world and the end of the last ice age with climate changes, mass extinctions and pushing the civilization of mankind into a new era. The more that one studies super-volcanoes the more one understands that the Azores Islands and the sunken caldera of the supervolcano there presents a unique geological formation on the Planet Earth.

There is simply no other geological formation that comes close to mimicking this one for the location of Atlantis as Plato described in Timeus. First, you have a supervolcano, and it is currently as active as the one at Yellowstone National Park in America, except this one is under water. This supervolcano is also fed by a mantle plume.

Furthermore, it is on the mid-Atlantic rift where new seafloor is being formed. In addition, it is at the intersection of the North American Plate, the European Plate and the African Plate.

Claiming that deep sea cores from millions of years ago proves that the Azores has been underwater for millions of years is not quite accurate unless you completely ignore volcanism and what is happening at Yellowstone Park in the USA. The Alps mountains exhibit evidence that they were once the floor of a sea bed. This old Earth is a restless lady. Ground can go up it certainly can subside also, especially in an area of a unique geologic formation that science is only beginning to understand. A significant part of the Geologists of the world deny this fact. The conservative geologic scientists of the time denied Wagner's Theory of Plate Tectonics also called Continental Drift until they were forced to accept it by overwhelming evidence. Alfred Wagner was not educated as a geologist.

As I stated above in 2009, there is little research into the Azores as a location for Atlantis, but claims abound that place it's location at numbers of other places that Plato didn't even mention. The geologic formations are in the Azores to support Plato's story.

Furthermore, this website, http://www.cvarg.azores.gov.pt/seismic/index.html documents the current activity of the Supervolcano in the Azores and it is just as active as the Supervolcano at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming in the USA. The only difference is that it is deep on the floor of the ocean. It is a collapsed caldera and it is still active.

Plato's documentation should be accepted as written. After all, we still study his philosophy. However, when it comes to his historical writings, the establishment does everything that it can to deny the possibility that Atlantis is right where Plato said it was. The problem is that there were no geologists in Plato's time. I understand caution. If caution crosses the line to denial then scientific knowledge is obstructed. Look how long it took the concept of Continental Drift to be widely accepted. There is a lot of research that still exists from cores taken form the floor of the Atlantic Ocean that is presently being ignored that support wide-spread volcanic eruptions in the Atlantic Basin 12,000 years ago toward the end of the last Ice Age. As time permits I will present this evidence here in Wikiversity. This is not an Edgar Cayce prediction. It is a written record from one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived and modern research that supports Plato's writings.

Furthermore, Plato describes in perfect detail the scientific description of a supervolcanic eruption. How would he know this? It is time to shake of the bonds of gradualism and to realize that the last ice age ended abruptly at the time that Plato says the eruption occurred. Is this merely a coincidence? There is evidence of spectacular mass extinctions, tsunami activity, and there is evidence of catastrophic climate change at that time.

This subject deserves discussion and research. Just saying it didn't happen on misapplied evidence and charges that the time frame and location is incorrect on intuitive assumptions is not science, it is denial.

In evidence of Plato's description of Atlantis, the ground and the city, surrounded by concentric rings of land and rings of water or canals, all navigable from an ocean bay one can see that this is a rough description of a collapsed volcanic caldera. Admittedly, these geologic structures exist at locations all over the world. Atlantis could not have been at each and every one of them. http://geology.com/articles/caldera/ Also, see http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Calderas.html

It is an accepted fact that a 'hot spot' exists that has created the Hawaiian Island Chain. http://www.hawaii.edu/environment/ainakumuwai/html/ainakumuwaiislandformation.htm However, what might happen if this spot corresponded exactly with a rift zone?

http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es0903/es0903page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

With the two descriptions given picture a 'hot spot' passing under a rift zone. Is this what could have happened to Atlantis?

Might a 'hot spot' such as the one at Yellowstone or the one close to Iceland moving under a rift zone cause a portion of a plate to break off and have enough magma extruded from under it to cause it to collapse into the ocean?

The relatively new revelation that Supervolcanoes exist and have erupted in the past should cause the curious, the truly scientific minds, to re-examine Plato as a historian in addition to a philosopher. This especially true because his descriptions of the topography of Atlantis correspond with modern geological descriptions of how the Earth works. Plato did not know this, so how could it be made up?

With the discovery of a Supervolcano near Vesuvius, These volcanoes are not rare. But people still build castles and cities on top of the 'plugs' in their vents...

http://volcanocafe.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/italien-ischia-castello-aragonese.png

What a gorgeous castle. Just like the main castle Plato described...

http://web.archive.org/web/20131021184156/http://volcanocafe.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/castello-arragonese.jpg?w=700


 * J. Garner PhD. aka RAYLEIGH22

A hypothesis without an explanation to account for the rise and fall of a large piece of the floor of the Atlantic ocean seems incomplete. Indeed, it is incomplete. Therefore, to simplify matters, I should explain possible mechanisms to accomplish the seeming insurmountable task of accomplishing the raising (or, rather the sinking) of the entire plateau in the area of the Azores islands.

The most simple, uncomplicated explanation without specifics I will call (Supervolcano plume hydraulics) or simple hydraulics. The specifics that describe the variations of magma present in the volcanoes of the Azores area may be found by reviewing the following piece of research.

http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~agale/papers/galeetal_2013.pdf

"Constraints on melting processes and plume-ridge interaction from comprehensive study of the FAMOUS and North Famous segments, Mid-Atlantic Ridge." A. Gale, M. Laubier, S. Escrig, C.H. Langmuir Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, 20 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA 02138, USA.

A brief review of this research, especially fig.10, illustrates how the magma from the mantle plume flows under the lithosphere and along this flow causes melt. The resulting mix of the magma which is part from the mantle plume, part magma from the Mid-Atlantic ridge and part from the melting of the underside of the lithosphere supports the plateau. An eruption of all of the volcanoes along the borders of this plate segment would be like letting the pressure off of a simple hydraulic cylinder. As a result, the lithosphere sinks. When the eruptions subside the lithosphere is at a lower level. This would also account for all of the variations in magma from the various volcanoes and why a flow from the Mid-Atlantic ridge is seemingly reversed, as is mentioned in several research papers.

It would also account for the ocean being un-navigatable for some number of years from the pumice that would be floating on top of the water after the sinking of Atlantis, aka, the Azores plateau as Plato described.

Therefore, looking for the age of this crust of the segment of the lithosphere would show the original time the section of the lithosphere was formed, but would show little evidence of it sinking under the ocean. The remnants of river beds and so forth as described would indicate the approximate age of those features, but not how it came to be the present ocean floor or even how long it has been in its present position. RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 02:51, 19 November 2015 (UTC)

The volcanoes of the island of São Miguel in the Azores

The island of São Miguel in the Azores has three active central volcanoes. These are Sete Cidades, Fogo, and Furnas. Furnas does not have a cone but rather a steep-sided caldera approximately 8 km X 5 km across. The activity of Furmas is Plinian and it has a history of at least two significant eruptions in the time frame told by Plato’s description of Atlantis that resulted in caldera collapse and refilling. The first was 30,000 yrs BP and the second was 10,000 to 12,000 years BP. More recent eruptions have occurred, the first 1630 AD and new evidence suggests that another occurred during the human occupation of the Azores at about 1440 AD.

63.134.169.153 (discuss) 02:05, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

An Examination of an Unexplored "European" Volcano"

Recently, I ran across an interesting discussion Of Monaco Bank, an Unexplored European Volcano on a web site called Volcano Cafe.

It is certainly worth a look and through a couple of research publications the caldera underneath the Azores begins to be revealed. As research reveals the shape, depth and extent of the Mantle Plume fed caldera, we also see that the flow of magma is contributed to by continental drift. Apparently, the mixing of the two magma sources, one from the plume and the other from continental plate interactions, analysis of the isotopes of helium from each source reveals the source of the magma, i.e. mantle plume or continental plate interaction.

https://volcanocafe.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/monaco-bank-an-unstudied-european-volcano/ RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 02:51, 19 November 2015 (UTC)

A 3-D Perspective of the Sunken Island of Atlantis
If you Click on the map at the site below, enlarge it and use the ctrl while dragging with the mouse, it is possible to get a 360 degree perspective of the Azores Plateau and a depth perspective to clearly see the outline of the sunken plateau. Keep in mind that this is modern technology and the hypothesis of the Geology of the sinking of the plateau have yet to be worked out. However, keep in mind that a mountain range disappeared into the Yellowstone caldera 650 thousand years ago. It will take a lot of research and work to convince mainstream science that this happened on the Atlantic Ocean floor 12,000 years ago and ushered the end of the last ice age in Europe and in North America. Thanks and kudos to Google Maps for this fine 3-D perspective illustrating the elevation of the Azores Plateau.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.9966402,-30.7461194,2641208a,20y,357.94h,5.97t/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en-US

RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 00:48, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

Seewarte Seamounts
Seewarte Seamounts are a cluster of seamounts in the Northern Atlantic that include Plato, and Atlantis Seamounts, understood to be just named after the legend.

I would dispute any statement about any seamount in this area of the world being extinct. I would go along with dormant, or possibly inactive. Since we cannot properly visualize the rise or fall of the sea floor in this area, and research is scarce in this area, I have reservations about calling any volcanic structure extinct.

Predicting the Eruption of Undersea Volcanoes

Turns out that geologists have not been able to accurately predict the eruption of volcanoes on land. However, recently, a group of scientists exploring a volcano off the west coast of America wrote a paper that accurately predicted the eruption of a Seamount volcano. This volcano rises 2000 feet from the floor of the Pacific off the west coast of America.

They left monitoring equipment on the ocean floor. When they went to recover the equipment they discovered that the sea floor had changed. Later, they determined that there had been a significant eruption of this undersea volcano that had changed the sea floor. The curious thing is that nobody had noticed that there had been an eruption.

Their prediction that the Seamount volcano would erupt in 2014 turned out to be accurate. Now they are searching for ways of applying their prediction techniques to land based volcanoes.

Islands in the Azores That Have Sank and Then Re-appeared
The geologic record reveals that although Santa Maria is the oldest island in the Azores being formed some 7 million years ago, it sank into the ocean. Later, it rose back up above the ocean’s surface. The fact that it has ocean fossils present in it’s rocky surface attests to the fact that in the Azores, islands sink into the ocean and then rise again.

Source http://assets.geoexpro.com/legacy-files/articles/GEOTourism%20The%20Azores.pdf RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 02:51, 19 November 2015 (UTC)

Islands in the Azores That Have Risen Above the Surface of the Ocean and Then Have Sank Again
Near Sao Miguel island an island rose from under the ocean in 1811. The British claimed the island and named it Sabrina. Shortly after the island was claimed by the British, it sank back into the ocean and it has not been seen since.

Source http://assets.geoexpro.com/legacy-files/articles/GEOTourism%20The%20Azores.pdf RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 02:51, 19 November 2015 (UTC)

Discussion Regarding the appearance and disappearance of the island Sabrina continues
Some researchers make the hypothesis that the island rising and sinking was due to landslide activity.

Others counter that the island did indeed rise and sink due to volcanic activity.

Consider that the Atlantic Ocean has risen and then receded numerous time in geologic history.

Conversation about Yellowstone Park USA with Jake Lowenstern

Yellowstone – Jacob Lowenstern

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1343737.htm

Timeus Correlations
As described by Plato in these dialogues Solon visited the old priesthood in Egypt. He was told clearly of the lands within the Pillars of Hercules and the lands outside of the Pillars of Hercules.

The Priest also made the statement that the Sea or Atlantic ocean outside of the Pillars of Hercules were no longer navigable.

I ask the reader to consider the land of Atlantis as a plateau, a huge cone of a Supervolcano. It was and is (because it is still there, it is just under water) still a caldera on the conjunction of 3 tectonic plates, whose top is a plug. Under this is the Mantle plume feeding caldera, the magma produced by the melt of the rock grinding and being fed into the caldera, and a fractured piece of rock not unlike a wormian bone formation in the sutures of a human skull. Look at the "Azores Microplate" in the diagram/map at this website/article.

http://assets.geoexpro.com/legacy-files/articles/GEOTourism%20The%20Azores.pdf

Thickness of the Azores Plateau Compared to the Sea Floor Surrounding the Plateau
The Azores Plateau is described as being 100% thicker than the sea floor surrounding it, essentially, this means that the Azores Plateau is twice as thick as the sea floor and in addition, surface area of the Azores Plateau is described as being approximately 400,000 square Kilometers.

Description of an underwater super volcanic eruption
If the supervolcano erupts the underwater volcanoes go into a Plinian eruption underwater and eventually connecting to form a ring around the plateau or microplate. This is similar to the eruption described in Yellowstone Park in the USA. However, here, the plateau sinks under the water rather into a valley. The resultant steam, clouds and evaporated water rising from the ocean goes into the atmosphere creating the large deluge that moves toward Europe and the Mediterranean and on into Russia and Asia and powers the oral flood traditions of many diverse cultures of the world. Moreover, there are no super-heated pyroclastic flows, only floating pumice is left. There is a HUGE pumice plug floating in the ocean in the area making it non-navigable for the sailing vessels of that time for maybe 1000 or more years, as described to Solon by the Egyptian Priest. As the pumice distributes itself throughout the Atlantic by wave action, there is little geologic record left for us 12,000 years after the fact in the form of sediment on the ocean floor to indicate that this supervolcanic eruption actually occurred. The dusting of pumice that exists on the floor of the Atlantic is claimed to be from Icelandic eruptions.

Research Data that supports an underwater volcanic super eruption
The SE Terceira Rift alone contains 252 submarine volcanic cones. (Seamounts) These cones all demonstrate the characteristics of Plinian (explosive) eruption. These cones exist up to 3200 meters below the ocean surface. The average diameter of these cones is 732 meters. The heights of these cones vary between 200 meters for the highest to a minimum of 50 meters. The volcanoes developed simultaneously according to High-resolution multichannel seismic data. This data supports the hypothesis description of a supervolcanic eruption and the sinking of Atlantis. 80 percent of volcanic eruptions occur on the ocean floor

Since earthquakes, landslides, flooding of the plateau and resultant multiple tsunamis would be indescribably catastrophic, NO ARCHAEOLOGICAL dig could reveal Atlantis, either the continent or the city. It is now almost two miles deep on a plateau resting on the ocean floor that is several miles further down with the supervolcanic caldera down even further than that under the Azores Plateau which is twice as thick as the rest of the ocean floor in this area. The magma moving in this caldera is recorded as earthquake swarms in the area of the Azores and may be seen on the website today. -->http://www.cvarg.azores.gov.pt/seismic/index.html

If you wish to see the Azorean Plateau or get an idea how big it is go back the the website above that shows the earthquake activity. Now using your mouse click on the "-" and back the view out making the islands smaller and the perspective of the north Atlantic more complete. You can see the Azores Plateau and the Mid Atlantic Rift (MAR) now. There is a triangular seafloor plateau with three known sea floor fault lines on its borders. The MAR runs from North East to South West and is part of this triangular border. I am seeking permission to use a more detailed bathymetric map of the Azores and the North Atlantic Basin Area. Click here reference #1. or here reference #2. to get an idea of what the sea floor looks like in the area of the Azores. (the maps must be approved first before the references can be used.)

The gulf stream no longer diverted by the land mass starts to change the climate on both sides of the Atlantic and the world climate changes, some parts fast and some parts slowly. Meanwhile, you still have the Mid-Atlantic Ridge grinding out ocean floor and the ridge is moving East and the hot spot with the mantle plume and caldera is migrating West and slowly changing into what we see today.

Don't hunt for Atlantis. You will never find it now. It exists only in Plato's writings (and the Egyptian Priest's, should his writings ever be revealed) and the oral tradition of the folklore of mankind. If the hypothesis presented here is correct the chances of finding ruins on the Azores plateau is extremely small. The utter devastation would be so complete as to make it difficult to find one man-made block sitting atop another. This makes it easy for one to ignore the evidence presented here and deny that it ever existed.

More about the ice bridge and the bog people in Florida 10-15,000 years old with European DNA will be added later. This is but another disaster in the long history of mankind on the planet Earth described as recurrent By the old Egyptian priest to Solon as told by Plato. (Not made-up, but as accurate as any oral tradition folklore can be that is written and recorded by an ancient academic, aka Plato.)

Mass extinctions and climate change descriptions that happened 12,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age to be added as time permits.

RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs)

Explanation describing what happened to the magma extruded during the super eruption that sank the island of Atlantis
Deposits Along the Coast of France Left in the Late Quaternary Epoch

Deposits of 1.6 meters thickness described as occurring in the late Quaternary along the coastal region of France Pg. 161 are from the disintegration of the pumice from the undersea eruptions that caused the sinking of Atlantis. They are dated between 14,000 and 10,000 years before present, within the time period described by Plato as the time period of the sinking of Atlantis.63.134.186.84 (discuss) 19:40, 18 November 2015 (UTC)

Abnormalities Exist That Makes Calderas Occurring along the Atlantic Rift Different Than Those That Occur Under Continental Plates

I am compelled to mention the section on Tectonic Subsidence. In this section of the Atlantic islands are subject to landslides. The material from these landslides is not observable after time because of the rifting or the MAR. Therefore, no remnant can be found if Atlantis subsided in this manner 11,500 years ago or in the span +/- 500 years.

The reference is a computer-constructed image of the caldera under Yellowstone National Park USA using "P" wave tomography data.

The caldera under the Azores Plateau must be imaged by "wavefront" data using a techniques of Rayleigh wave fronts. The "P" waves diverge from the source which is an earthquake but the surface disturbances of the ocean floor is relied upon more heavily by this technique than the "P" waves from an earthquake source traversing the diameter of the Earth. This makes obtaining an outline without a seismographic array on the ocean floor much more difficult.

Research has revealed that along the Mid Atlantic Rift (MAR) that Mantle Plumes behave in a manner that causes them to 'flatten out' so to speak and to also consist of melt that comes from under the segments lithosphere beneath which they reside. I would hypothesize that this can reduce the forces that hold the lithosphere in place making the spread of lithosphere laterally from the MAR more rapid over time. This can explain why some volcanoes further from the MAR are younger in age than others nearer to the MAR. That is, some volcanoes closer to the MAR are older than those located further from the MAR. If this appears to be confusing to you read the research.

Indeed, with the knowledge being gained the behavior of 'Mother Earth' around so-called RIFTING zones is becoming more and more a troubling problem to those who believe that they completely understand the behaviors of tectonic plates and the spreading of Rift Zones.

Results of the so-called Sinking of Atlantis 

With the sinking (or sliding) of the Azores plateau the gulf stream current was no longer restricted and turned back south by the large island of Atlantis. This had three results. The first result was a gradual warming of the climate and the melting of the ice bridge from Europe to America as the warm gulf stream current bathed the areas to the north. The second was the pumice from the under ocean eruption gradually disintegrating and laying down here as well as throughout the Atlantic basin deposits of mud on the Atlantic shelf that is easy to find. The final result was the rising of the oceans of the world from the ice melting. This rising of the oceans is well documented in scientific literature. 63.134.186.84 (discuss) 19:40, 18 November 2015 (UTC)

Western Mediterranean
Could the straits have been between Italy and Africa, instead of the straight of Gibraltar, thus making Atlantis location the western Mediterranean? If this were the case, Sardinia and Spain are candidates for Atlantis' location.

If Atlantis was a military power as Plato described these sites if they have ruins could be the remnants of colonies of Atlantis, too. The problem is that no written history is available or even history of these times. We must remember that 12,000 years ago much of northern Europe in addition to America was covered with glaciers.

The mass extinctions and the ocean rise around the world occurred at about this time.

On the other hand could the sinking of Atlantis have caused a rise in the ocean levels and submerged these areas of the Western Mediterranean Sea in the areas of Sardinia and Spain. It is well documented that seal levels rose and that the coasts in many areas of the world moved 50 to 100 miles inland.

If a 6 foot rise in sea level were to occur today the coasts of all areas of the world would change significantly. Practically the whole state of Florida in the United States would be underwater. The flooding of coastal areas throughout America would be devastating. Much more devastation than merely Atlantis sinking happened in the world in the end of the last epoch. The record of the coast of Texas changing goes back 10,000 years.

Click here for a contemporary assessment of sea level rise. https://noaacsc.adobeconnect.com/_a1005979616/p3h5x2ubnkc/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal

RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 19:57, 4 December 2015 (UTC)

Commentary
A catastrophe as described in this hypothesis would set civilization back thousands of years.

Evidence exists in the form of similarity of human DNA that the supervolcanic eruption at Toba in the Pacific was so large that it caused a volcanic winter and world-wide extinctions and starvation 70,000 years BC. This created what is called a "bottleneck" in human DNA where natural DNA mutations that may be confirmed using mathematical probability are not present. Thus, the species of Homo Sapien was reduced to very low numbers at that time.

Luckily, the supervolcanic eruption that is being alleged that destroyed Atlantis was not as devastating because the eruption occurred on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean instead of in the atmosphere. In an e-mail conversation with Jake Lowenstern of the USGS he told me unequivically that the Azores could not have had an eruption large enough to sink Atlantis because research has not yet found evidence of a VEI 8 or larger eruption in the Azores. They have found one of at least a VEI 5, though, the one that formed Mt. Pico. (This eruption was approximately the size of Pinatubo in the Philippines which was classified as a VEI 5) It was not on the ocean floor. It was the volcano PICO and this eruption was dated about 14,000 years ago. (reference to follow soon)

It appears that the eruption that formed Mt. Pico and Massif Ribeira Cha located on Serra de Água de Pau on the island of São Miguel (aka Fogo) occurred at the same time as the supervolcanic eruption on the ocean floor that sank Atlantis.

70,000 years ago in Sumatra, the volcano Toba blew its top in a scientifically accepted eruption of greater than a VEI 8 (VEI = Volcano Explositivity Index) officially 2.8 times larger than the eruption of the Yellowstone volcano 650,000 years ago that is a termed a super volcano.

The proof is not only in the geological record, but the near extinction event evidence is present in the mitochondrial DNA of every human living in the world today. Statistically, (...and we cannot say that statistics is NOT evidence. Not even Einstein could refute statistics and mathematical probability when faced with Quantum Mechanics...) science has narrowed the breeding pairs of humans at this time 70,000 years ago to be no larger than 1,000 to 10, 000. This is being called the genetic bottleneck theory and it is based upon mitochondrial DNA.

So how can we say that civilization did not exist before approximately 6,000 years ago? How can one claim to know this when human DNA has revealed that catastrophe has had a significant part in shaping mankind? Evidence in the archaeological record tells us that our species, Homo Sapiens, existed 164,000 yrs. before present time.

Clearly, even though we have Satorini and the downfall of civilizations none of them date to the times that Plato described. Even the fact that some are attempting to say Atlantis was Satorini implies tacit acceptance of Plato's story, albeit on their own terms that facilitates their own best interests.

RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 03:14, 19 November 2015 (UTC)

The majority of humanity considers account of time of man, millennium by millennium, and supposes that man was not civilized before 10,000 years ago. They are ignoring sea level changes during the time of the glaciers as if they were insignificant or that they simply didn't happen. The end of the last ice age saw incredible sea level rises. This research confirms that there have many changes in sea levels, accompanied by flooding and catastrophe. Scientifically revealed sea level rises or climate changes were significant. Bear in mind, it is not possible to minimize the effect of melting over a mile and a half thickness of glacial of ice that covered the North American continent and also created an ice bridge across the North Atlantic to Europe before the end of the last ice age that happened simultaneously with the demise of Atlantis. It is unimaginable after images of tsunamis and storm surges from hurricanes that we are not considering the effects of sea level change on the primitive civilizations of mankind that lived within the low-lying lands by oceans.

http://climatenewsnetwork.net/antarctic-peaks-reveal-sea-rise-threat/

RAYLEIGH22 (discuss • contribs) 02:52, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

REFERENCES