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Archaeology: Black Sea's ancient coast found - report
Thu, Jul 07 2011
The Sofia Echo
Bulgarian scientists have found the ancient shores of the Black Sea,
currently deep beneath the waves, which they claim were the original
shores about 7500 years ago, when the Black Sea at the time was just a
fresh water lake, the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported on
July 7 2011.
The team, led by Professor Petko Dimitrov of the Institute of Oceanology
in Varna, which is part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS),
returned from an expedition aboard the research vessel Akademik, saying
that they have found the ancient coastline close to the Cape of Emine.
Archaeological evidence suggest that this particular spot was part of
the ancient coastline, the BNT said.
The common theory of the creation of the Black Sea says that there was a
massive deluge through the straits of Bosporus (modern Istanbul), where
waters from the Mediterranean flooded into the lake. Once the
Mediterranean Sea breached the Bosporus Strait, it irreversibly changed
the history of the people in the area, as well as the flora and fauna.
In 1997, William Ryan and Walter Pitman published evidence that a
massive flooding of the Black Sea occurred about 5600 BCE through the
Bosporus. According to the theory, glacial melt-water had turned the
Black and Caspian Seas into vast freshwater lakes draining into the
Aegean Sea before that event. As glaciers retreated, some of the rivers
emptying into the Black Sea declined in volume and changed course to
drain into the North Sea.
The Black Sea is the world's largest meromictic basin where the
deep waters do not mix with the upper layers of water that receive
oxygen from the atmosphere, the report said. Subsequently, more than 90
per cent of the deeper Black Sea volume is anoxic water.
Part of the Bulgarian expedition was also Professor William Ryan, a
geologist at Columbia University. "As a true scientist, until the
results are finalised, I will reserve doubts about the theory of
Professor Petko Dimitrov, that this part of the coastline was indeed
affected by the flood and that this was the ancient shoreline," he said,
cited by the BNT.
"I am still doubtful whether there is a small gap in his theory. All my
observations support the theory, but we are still looking for any
evidence which may disprove it," he said.
Scientists believe that if this theory proves true, they will be
presented with a myriad of other questions, such as who lived there, the
fate of the people in the area and how the region was affected in the
From: A. Papazian
Thu, Jul 07 2011
The Sofia Echo
Bulgarian scientists have found the ancient shores of the Black Sea,
currently deep beneath the waves, which they claim were the original
shores about 7500 years ago, when the Black Sea at the time was just a
fresh water lake, the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported on
July 7 2011.
The team, led by Professor Petko Dimitrov of the Institute of Oceanology
in Varna, which is part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS),
returned from an expedition aboard the research vessel Akademik, saying
that they have found the ancient coastline close to the Cape of Emine.
Archaeological evidence suggest that this particular spot was part of
the ancient coastline, the BNT said.
The common theory of the creation of the Black Sea says that there was a
massive deluge through the straits of Bosporus (modern Istanbul), where
waters from the Mediterranean flooded into the lake. Once the
Mediterranean Sea breached the Bosporus Strait, it irreversibly changed
the history of the people in the area, as well as the flora and fauna.
In 1997, William Ryan and Walter Pitman published evidence that a
massive flooding of the Black Sea occurred about 5600 BCE through the
Bosporus. According to the theory, glacial melt-water had turned the
Black and Caspian Seas into vast freshwater lakes draining into the
Aegean Sea before that event. As glaciers retreated, some of the rivers
emptying into the Black Sea declined in volume and changed course to
drain into the North Sea.
The Black Sea is the world's largest meromictic basin where the
deep waters do not mix with the upper layers of water that receive
oxygen from the atmosphere, the report said. Subsequently, more than 90
per cent of the deeper Black Sea volume is anoxic water.
Part of the Bulgarian expedition was also Professor William Ryan, a
geologist at Columbia University. "As a true scientist, until the
results are finalised, I will reserve doubts about the theory of
Professor Petko Dimitrov, that this part of the coastline was indeed
affected by the flood and that this was the ancient shoreline," he said,
cited by the BNT.
"I am still doubtful whether there is a small gap in his theory. All my
observations support the theory, but we are still looking for any
evidence which may disprove it," he said.
Scientists believe that if this theory proves true, they will be
presented with a myriad of other questions, such as who lived there, the
fate of the people in the area and how the region was affected in the
From: A. Papazian