Where can I find information on the legend of Atlantis(You know that
volcano that people say never existed and never erupted) If you can please
send the info or just give me some Web sites that would be more than
helpful.
Rah
Rah,
Atlantis is a fascinating legend, but archeologists have never
found any evidence for a city with this name. However, the island caldera of
Santorini in the eastern Mediterraean Sea was a major seaport of the
vast
sea-based Minoan civilization of about 1800 BC. And just as Atlantis
legend
describes a cataclysmic destruction of Atlantis, the town on Santorini
was destroyed by a large volcanic eruption in 1650 BC.
The photo shown here (taken by Space Shuttle astronauts in 1983) shows
that Santorini is an elongated group of islands, about 15 by 17 km. The
islands make a rough ring surounding part of the Mediterranean Sea. The
northern half of this bay is the area of an ancient volcano that collapsed
about 1390 BC, destroying "Atlantis". This was a huge eruption, with ash
falling over parts of Turkey and Egypt.
The
book The End of Atlantis by J.V. Luce was published in England in
1970 to popularize the idea that the Atlantis legend was real. Now, 25
years later, there have been many conferences and scientific papers
that document the great likelihood of this theory. And Santorini
continues to erupt, most recently in 1950, demonstrating that the ancient
volcano is still alive.
Sources of Information
T.H. Druitt and V. Francaviglia (1992) Caldera formation on Santorini and
the physiography of the islands in the late Bronze Age. Bulletin of
Volcanology 54, 484-493.
Chuck Wood, University of North Dakota
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