(images found on daily tech)Last week an associate of mine brought this article to my attention and now its in the news in a bigger way. It turns out that last week Google turned its mapping onto the oceans floors, giving people a chance to now view the deep waters unlike ever before. As people tuned into the water maps, one viewer noticed something interesting off the coast of Africa (at 31 15'15.53N 24 15'30.53W i) about 700 miles off the coasts of Morocco and Portugal.
If you look above at the included image and map you will see that "the blurry image shows a rectangle the size of a small state made up of seemingly perfect straight lines. More lines crisscross the inside of the rectangle like streets.
The site, located in the Madeira Abyssal Plane, is being hailed by some as being possibly the fabled city of Atlantis. It was first discovered by a British aeronautical engineer Bernie Bamford. He states, "It looks like an aerial map of Milton Keynes. It must be man-made."
Google states that the lines are sonar lines based on its imaging techniques, though it could not explain why they stopped or started or featured gaps. Stated a spokesperson, "Bathymetric (or sea floor terrain)data is often collected from boats using sonar to take measurements of the sea floor. The lines reflect the path of the boat as it gathers the data. The fact that there are blank spots between each of these lines is a sign of how little we really know about the world’s oceans."
Based on Google's explanation, a possible alternative is that there are deep trenches in the area, which prevented the sonar from escaping.
However, some oceanographers, geophysicists, and other researchers aren't accepting Google's explanation and insist the image might be the long lost city of Atlantis, a staple of Greek mythology. They point out that the location in Google Earth closely echoes where Greek philosopher Plato claimed Atlantis to be located. Plato had said that Atlantis was 620 miles of Africa's coast, past the Canary Islands. He wrote that the land was home to advanced civilization before earthquake and floods sunk it into the sea around 9,700BC — nearly 12,000 years ago.
Dr Charles Orser, curator of historical archaeology at New York State University says that the discovery is "fascinating". He states, "The site is one of the most prominent places for the proposed location of Atlantis, as described by Plato. Even if it turns out to be geographical, this definitely deserves a closer look."
Given the enthusiasm it seems likely that some will investigate the site further. However, for now the so-called discovery still seems a questionable one at best. It does, however, provide Google's ocean mapping efforts with some nice publicity."
This does seem to be great timing for Google, especially with getting the word out about their new option for searching the waters. This could be a simple coincidence or maybe something else.
Regardless, of what it is, there appears to be something there. We do live in a time now where deep water research is possible. The only thing that could be holding people back might be the cost factor in starting such an endeavor.
I've always felt there was an Atlantis and that we will find it through the writings of the past if we can correctly interpret the information left behind for us to find it.
Google Sinks Atlantis Discovery Buzz (PCWorld)
Google dismisses 'Atlantis find' (BBC News)
Atlantis Claimed to Be Found Using Google Earth, Google Says Otherwise (DailyTech)
UPDATED: Google Ocean watchers may have found Atlantis (TG Daily)
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