Tsunami created North Sea ‘Atlantis’ 8,000 years ago

A prehistoric land mass once connecting Britain to mainland Europe may have been wiped out by a 5m-high tsunami, according to new research.

Some 8,000 years ago, a devastating subsea landslide off the coast of Norway generated a wave which overran the island of Doggerland, a low-lying Atlantis, which is now completely submerged.

“It would have completely inundated the landmass,” says Dr Jon Hill, one of the team of researchers from Imperial College London, who have submitted their findings to the journal Ocean Modelling. “Any humans living there would have suffered a catastrophic event.”

There could have been inhabitants on the island at the time the waves struck, though this is still unclear from the evidence. The Imperial team’s computer models suggest that Doggerland was mostly less than 5m above sea level at the time of the tsunami, suggesting flooding would have been extensive.

The trigger for the tsunami was a landslide named Storegga, where 3,000 cubic km of sediment collapsed in the North Sea.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/tsunami-created-north-sea-atlantis-8000-years-ago-9313348.html

the land bridge is no news...the tsunami however is interesting

Really interesting, I'd never heard of this before. I wonder if it might have helped given rise to the Atlantis story?

Ben_Reilly wrote:Really interesting, I'd never heard of this before. I wonder if it might have helped given rise to the Atlantis story?

My sentiments too Ben, to be honest around this time and before was much upheaval with the sea levels rising anyway, but this was some disaster mind

when does the atlantis ledgend first appear?

victorisnotamused wrote:when does the atlantis ledgend first appear?

Plato, right? Or one of those guys

Ben_Reilly wrote:

victorisnotamused wrote:when does the atlantis ledgend first appear?

Plato, right? Or one of those guys

Ah, just found this on Wikipedia:

The location of Atlantis in the Atlantic Ocean has a certain appeal given the closely related names. Popular culture often places Atlantis there, perpetuating the original Platonic setting. Several hypotheses place the sunken island in northern Europe, including Doggerland in the North Sea, and Sweden (by Olof Rudbeck in Atland, 1672–1702). Doggerland, as well as Viking Bergen Island, is thought to have been flooded by a megatsunami following the Storegga slide c. 6100 BCE.

Ben_Reilly wrote:

victorisnotamused wrote:when does the atlantis ledgend first appear?

Plato, right? Or one of those guys

It deepens, because there are many Atlantis stories though many are not called Atlantis until later with comparisons, so Atlantis as called would be Plato