CCNet 149

CCNet 149/2004 - 17 November 2004
THAT WAS QUICK: MEDIA DEBACLE COMPLETE AS RESEARCHERS EXPOSE ATLANTIS HOAX
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(1) THAT WAS QUICK: MEDIA DEBACLE COMPLETE AS RESEARCHERS EXPOSE ATLANTIS HOAX
Benny Peiser b.j.peiser@livjm.ac.uk

Less than 48 hours after the world's news agencies and major news outlets announced the discovery of the mythical island of Atlantis, the rug has been pulled out under the latest, bizarre media hype. German geophysicists who have studied the Mediterranean ocean bottom for many years, have exposed the sensational 'discovery' of Atlantis for what it really is: meager delusions based on the misinterpretation of geological features that are more than 100,000 years old. As I pointed out in yesterday's editorial (http://anthropology.tamu.edu/downloads/AtlantisHoax.htm), every journalist and science writer who trustingly covered this pseudo-scientific 'discovery' would have been capable to recognize immediately that they were the victims of a stupid little hoax - simply by consulting the internet (not to mention calling a expert).

After all, that's how I established quickly that the bottom of the Mediterranean wasn't exposed to the air for the last 6 million years.

That none of the numerous stories and reports provided any scientific context, any serious reservations or consulted experts in the field about the outlandish claim is a sad reflection on the disturbing decline of 'science' reporting. Not surprisingly, yesterday's headlines about the confirmation of Atlantis's demise have been replaced today by headlines that proclaim "Human extinction within 100 years warns scientist" (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3099128a10,00.html). Given current conditions, I doubt whether the news media that were duped by a shrewd con artist will retract yesterday's fairy tales or today's doomsday prophecies that are just as baloney.

Benny Peiser

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(2) ATLANTIS DISCOVERY CLAIM DISPUTED

The Herald Sun, 17 November 2004 http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,11412623%255E1702,00.html

From correspondents in Berlin, Germany

THE remains of the lost city of Atlantis, which a United States researcher claims to have found off the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, are in fact submarine volcanoes, according to a German physicist.

US researcher Robert Sarmast claimed on Monday to have found proof that the mythical lost city of Atlantis actually existed and is located under the Mediterranean seabed between Cyprus and Syria.

But German physicist Christian Huebscher said he had identified the phenomenon as 100,000 year-old volcanoes that spewed mud.

Mr Huebscher, of the Hamburg Centre for Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, is quoted in tomorrow's edition of the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as saying he and two Dutch colleagues had sailed in a boat to the same area at which Mr Sarmast claimed to have located Atlantis and made their findings.

Mr Sarmast's team claims to have found man-made structures located about 1.5 kilometres below sea level and 80 kilometres off the south-east coast of Cyprus.

In his book Discovery of Atlantis, Mr Sarmast argued Cyprus was once part of that lost continent - at its highest peak - and said his findings matched almost perfectly every clue in the philosopher Plato's description of the legendary city state.

Plato's famed account in Timaeus and Critias is the sole source of the Atlantis myth dating back to 9000 BC.

The privately-funded $US200,000 ($258,830) expedition seeks to confound sceptics by bringing back scientific side-scan sonar data which supports evidence revealing man-made structures such as a three-kilometre wall.

Plato said an epochal flood "swallowed up" the mountainous island of Atlantis.

Other theories place the lost civilisation in the South China Sea, the Azores, the Aegean or the Atlantic Ocean. Greek mythology has it Atlantis was destroyed as punishment by Zeus for the greed and corruption that befell the city.

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(3) ATLANTIS ENTDECKT: NUR EIN SCHLAMMVULKLAN

Yahoo! Nachrichten, 17 November 2004 http://de.news.yahoo.com/041117/87/4aqq4.html

(ExpeditionZone) - Robert Sarmast, Architekt und Buchautor aus Los Angeles, versucht seinem Lebenstraum als Entdecker im Stile eines Indiana Jones Gestalt zu verleihen: "Wir haben die Akropolis von Atlantis entdeckt", verkndete er am 14. November in Limassol, kurz nach der R ckkehr von einer sechstgigen Tauch-Expedition.

Doch trotz jahrelanger Vorarbeit, dem Einsatz von lbohrschiffen und HighTech-Tauchrobots sind die einizigen greifbaren Fakten fr seine Entdeckung aufwendige 3D-Computergrafiken des kartographierten Meeresbodens zwischen Zypern und Syrien.

Sarmasts Auslegung der Pl ne: Der biblische Garten Eden und Atlantis - jener vom griechischen Philosophen Plato ersonnene Mythos eines vor etwa 12.000 Jahren versunkenen 8. Kontinents - liegt rund 80 km sd stlich vor Zypern, etwa 1.500 Meter unter dem Meeresspiegel.

Doch Dr. Christian Hbscher vom Institut f r Geophysik der Universitt Hamburg kennt die unterseeische Landschaft vor Zyperns K ste offenbar besser: In einem Gesprch mit dem Online-Magazin ExpeditionZone zerlegt H bscher die Atlantis-Theorie in krgliche Wunschvorstellungen:

"Ich kenne das Gebiet sehr gut, 3 Expeditionen habe ich dort durchgef hrt und es stehen ber 6000 km Seismik-Daten aus der Region zur Verf gung. Es ist kein Zweifel mglich - die angebliche Akropolis ist ein unterseeischer Schlammvulkan", so H bscher.

"Es gibt sehr viele geowissenschaftliche Untersuchungen aus diesem Gebiet, die eindeutig belegen, dass die von Robert Sarmast bezeichnete Ebene in den letzten Millionen Jahren niemals trocken war. Tatschlich lag der Meeresspiegel im stlichen Mittelmeer nur whrend der sogenannten Messinischen Salinit tskrise wesentlich tiefer als heute (800 - 1200 m). Das war allerdings vor knapp 6 Millionen Jahren."

"Vor etwa 11.000 Jahren war der Meeresspiegel nur etwa 120 m tiefer als heute. Und die seismischen Daten zeigen eindeutig, dass die ca. 400 m mchtigen Sedimente im Gebiet der angeblichen Akropolis absolut ungest rt sind. Wren sie vor 11.000 Jahren an der Luft gewesen, m ssten sich zahlreiche Hinweise darauf ergeben."

Und Dr. Hbscher weiter: "Strukturen, die einer 'Akropolis' hneln, gibt es in der Region in groer Zahl. Es handelt sich um passive Schlammvulkane, deren Entwicklung in engem Zusammenhang mit mobilen Salzschichten unter dem Meeresboden steht, wie wir am Zentrum f r Marine und Atmosphrische Wissenschaften herausgefunden haben."

"Dort dringt Schlamm aus Reservoirs unter dem Salz ber Schwchezonen nach oben und flie t wie ein Eisgletscher am Meeresboden aus. Es gibt auch Hinweise, dass sich Schlammreservoirs innerhalb des Salzes befinden, was meines Wissens zuvor noch nicht beobachtet wurde. Die Region stellt also tts chlich eine Besonderheit dar - nur aus anderen Grnden, als Sarmast glaubt."

EDITOR'S NOTE: see my translation below

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(4) ATLANTIS DISCOVERED: ONLY A MUD VOLCANO [translation of (3)]

Yahoo! Nachrichten, 17 November 2004

Robert Sarmast, architect and book author from Los Angeles, tries to present his lifelong dream as a discoverer in Indiana Jones fashion: "We have discovered the Acropolis of Atlantis", he announced in Limassol on 14 November, after the return of a six-day diving expedition.

Yet despite preliminary work for many years, the use of oil drilling ships and HighTech diving robots, the only tangible evidence for his discovery are complex 3D computer images of the bottom of the sea between Cyprus and Syria.

Sarmasts interpretation of the maps: the Biblical garden of Eden and Atlantis - the myth invented by the Greek philosopher Plato about a sunken continent that disappeared approximately 12,000 years ago - is situated approximately 80 km southeast off Cyprus, about 1,500 meters under the sea level.

But Dr. Christian H bscher of the Institute for geophysics at the University of Hamburg knows the undersea landscape off Cyprus' coast evidently better: In an interview with the on-line magazine ExpeditionZone he exposes the Atlantis theory as meager delusions:

"I know this area very well. I have carried out three expeditions in that area and there are more than 6000 km of seismology data available from the region. There is no doubt - the alleged Acropolis is a submarine mud volcano", says Hbscher.

"There are a profusion of geo-scientific investigations from this area, which prove clearly that the plane designated by Robert Sarmast was never dry during in the last millions years. In fact, only during the so-called Messinian salinity crisis, the sea level of the eastern Mediterranean was substantially lower than today (800 - 1200 m). However, that was roughly 6 million years ago."

" 11,000 years, the sea level was only about 120 m lower than today. And the seismic data show unmistakably that these elevated sediments of the alleged Acropolis are absolutely undisturbed. Had they been exposed to the air 11,000 years ago, there should be countless evidence."

Dr. H bscher adds: "Structures that look a lot like an 'Acropolis' resemble, are present in this region in large numbers. These are passive mud volcanoes whose evolution are associated with mobile salt layers under the bottom of the sea, as we have established."

"Dort dringt Schlamm aus Reservoirs unter dem Salz ber Schw chezonen nach oben und fliet wie ein Eisgletscher am Meeresboden aus. Es gibt auch Hinweise, dass sich Schlammreservoirs innerhalb des Salzes befinden, was meines Wissens zuvor noch nicht beobachtet wurde. Die Region stellt also t tschlich eine Besonderheit dar - nur aus anderen Gr nden, als Sarmast glaubt."

"In those structures, mud from reservoirs under the salt penetrates through brittle zones upward and pours out like an ice glacier at the bottom of the sea. There is also evidence that mud reservoirs exist within the salt layers which has not been observed yet to my knowledge. Hence, the region actually embodies some special features - but for other reasons, than Sarmast believes."

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(5) SCHLAMMVULKANE STATT ATLANTIS

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 16 November 2004 http://www.faz.net/s/Rub21DD40806F8345FAA42A456821D3EDFF/Doc~EE6C3A7B0330340D494C21CF7F1AE101C~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

Es kommt gelegentlich vor, da auch Hobbyforscher wichtige wissenschaftliche Entdeckungen machen. Folgte man der Pressekonferenz, die ein Architekt aus Los Angeles dieser Tage auf Zypern gab, konnte man den Eindruck gewinnen, da ein solcher Coup wieder einmal gelungen ist.

Er habe im Seegebiet zwischen Zypern und der syrischen Kste definitiv die Akropolis von Atlantis gefunden, sagte Robert Sarmast und zeigte eine bunte Graphik, die auf Messungen eines Unterwassersonars beruhte. Darauf waren angeblich die antike Burganlage der versunkenen Stadt, ein Kanal sowie Reste einer Stadtmauer zu sehen.

M chtige Salzschichten

Was Sarmast nicht wute (oder verschwieg), ist die Tatsache, da der Geophysiker Christian Hbscher vom Zentrum f r Marine und Atmosphrische Wissenschaften der Universit t Hamburg im Sommer mit einigen Kollegen genau dieses Seegebiet von Bord des niederlndischen Forschungsschiffes 'Pelagia' aus vermessen hat.

Die Forscher waren nicht auf der Suche nach dem verschollenen Atlantis, sondern wollten als Fachleute f r die mchtigen Salzschichten, die unter dem Boden des stlichen Mittelmeeres ruhen, mehr ber deren Zustand herausfinden. In den Daten des Sonars an Bord der 'Pelagia' fand H bscher auch jene untermeerischen Hgel, die Sarmast nun als Akropolis von Atlantis deutet.

Es handelt sich, so sagt H bscher, um einige etwa 100.000 Jahre alte Schlammvulkane. Diese Vulkane entstanden, weil der unter dem Salz liegende Schlamm durch Risse und Brche in die Salzschicht dringt und dabei den Meeresboden aufw lbt. Solche 'Schlammdiapire' gibt es auf dem Grund vieler Meeresgebiete. Deshalb sind derartige Funde lngst nicht so spektakul r wie die haltlose Behauptung, man habe das legendre Atlantis entdeckt.

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(6) MUD VOLCANOES NOT ATLANTIS [translation of (5)]

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 16. November 2004

Occasionally, it occurs that hobby researchers make important scientific discoveries. If one accepts the press conference which was recently organised in Cyprus by an architect from Los Angeles, one could get the impression that such feat was fulled off once again.

Robert Sarmast claims that he has definitely discovered the Acropolis of Atlantis in the Mediterranean Sea between Cyprus and the Syrian coast, presenting multicolored images based on measurements of underwater sonar. These images allegedly show the ancient castle of the sunk city, a channel as well as remainders of a city's wall.

Powerful salt layers

What Sarmast did not know (or what he concealed), is the fact that [German] geophycisist Christian H bscher of the University of Hamburg (Zentrum fr Marine und Atmosph rische Wissenschaften; http://www.zmaw.de/) together with colleagues analysed and measured this particular area of the sea last summer on board the Dutch research ship "Pelagia".

The researchers were not in search for the lost island of Atlantis. As scientific experts on the mighty salt layers which rest under the bottom of the eastern Mediterranean, they wanted to find out more about their condition. Their sonar data also detected those submarine hills which Sarmast now interprets as the Acropolis of Atlantis.

According to Hbscher, however, these [structures] are old mud volcanoes that are approximately 100,000 years old. These volcanoes were produced because the mud which lies under the salt layers penetrates through fractures and breaks into the salt layers and bulges the bottom of the sea floor. Such 'mud diapirs' exist on the bottom of many oceans. Thus, such finds are not as spectacular as the baseless statement that the legendary Atlantis has been discovered.

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