Black Sea deluge hypothesis
The Black Sea deluge is the best known of three hypothetical flood scenarios proposed for the Late Quaternary history of the Black Sea. One other flood scenario proposes a rapid, even catastrophic, rise in sea level of the Black Sea.[1][2]
History
In 1997,
As proposed, the Early Holocene Black Sea flood scenario describes events that would have profoundly affected prehistoric settlement in eastern Europe and adjacent parts of Asia and possibly was the basis of oral history concerning
Before that date,
The rising
Popular press accounts
Popular discussion of this early Holocene Black Sea flood scenario was headlined in The New York Times in December 1996[10] and later published as a book.[9] In a series of expeditions widely covered by mainstream media, a team of marine archaeologists led by Robert Ballard identified what appeared to be ancient shorelines, freshwater snail shells, drowned river valleys, tool-worked timbers, and man-made structures in roughly 100 metres (330 ft) of water off the Black Sea coast of modern Turkey.[11][12]
Late Pleistocene Great Flood hypothesis
In 2003 and 2007, a more ancient catastrophic flood scenario was proposed by Andrei L. Chepalyga for the Late Quaternary sea level rise of the Black Sea.
Black Sea gradual inundation hypothesis
In addition to the early Holocene "Noah’s Flood" scenario proposed by Ryan, Pitman, Dimitrov, and their colleagues[4][8] and the Caspian Sea overflow scenario of Chepalyga,[13][14] the non-catastrophic progressive flood model (or gradual inflow model) has been proposed to explain the Late Quaternary sea level history of the Black Sea.[2][15]
About 8,000
Counter arguments
Criticisms of the deluge hypothesis focus on the magnitude and pace of the water level rise in the Black Sea. With enough moderation of these features, the catastrophe hypothesis is voided. However, a few key points should be noted:
- Since the ending of the
- The flood hypothesis hinges on the geomorphology of the Bosporus since the end of the glacial age.[21] The Black Sea area has been sealed off and reconnected many times during the last 500,000 years.[22]
Opponents of the deluge hypothesis point to clues that water was flowing out of the Black Sea basin as late as 15,000 years ago.[23]
In this alternative scenario, much depends on the evolution of the Bosphorus. According to a study from 2001, the modern sill is 32–34 m (105–112 ft) below sea level and consists of Quaternary sand over-lying Paleozoic bedrock in which three sills are found at 80–85 m (260–280 ft) below sea level. Sedimentation on these sills started before 10,000 years ago and continued until 5,300 years ago.[24]
A large part of the academic geological community also continues to reject the idea that there could have been enough sustained long-term pressure by water from the Aegean to dig through a supposed isthmus at the present Bosphorus or enough of a difference in water levels, if at all, between the two water basins.[25]
In 2007, a research anthology on the topic was published which makes much of the earlier Russian research available in English for the first time and combines it with more recent scientific findings.[26]
According to a 2009 study by Liviu Giosan, Florin Filip, and Ștefan Constatinescu, the level in the Black Sea before the marine reconnection was 30 m (100 ft) below present sea level, rather than the 80 m (260 ft) (or lower) of the catastrophe theories. If the flood occurred at all, the sea level increase and the flooded area during the reconnection were significantly smaller than previously proposed. Since the depth of the Bosphorus, in its middle furrow, at present varies from 36 to 124 m (118 to 407 ft), with an average depth of 65 m (213 ft), a calculated Stone Age shoreline in the Black Sea lying 30 m (100 ft) lower than in the present day would imply that the contact with the Mediterranean might never have been broken during the Holocene, and hence there could have been no sudden waterfall-style transgression.[27] The flooding could have been "not so big".[28]
In 2011, several authors concluded that "there is no underwater archaeological evidence to support any catastrophic submergence of prehistoric Black Sea settlements during the late Pleistocene or early Holocene intervals".[29]
A 2012 study based on
A 2022 literature review concluded that there was insufficient evidence for a flood scenario. It was more likely that the waters of the Black Sea itself gradually outflowed to the Mediterranean. There was also no archaeological evidence of humans evacuating the premises during the relevant time frame.[32]
See also
- Black Sea undersea river – Saline water current in the Black Sea
- Altai flood – Prehistoric event in Central Asia
- Flood myth – Motif in which a great flood destroys civilization
- Noah's Ark – Mythical ship in the Genesis flood narrative
- 4.2 kiloyear event– Severe climatic event starting around 2200 BC
- 5.9 kiloyear event– North Atlantic ice rafting events
- 8.2 kiloyear event– Rapid global cooling around 8,200 years ago
- West Siberian Glacial Lake – Periglacial lake of the Weichselian Glaciation
- Zanclean flood – Theoretical refilling of the Mediterranean Sea between the Miocene and Pliocene Epochs, flooding of the Mediterranean
References
- ^ a b c Yanko-Hombach, V., Mudie, P., and Gilbert, A. S., 2011, Was the Black Sea catastrophically flooded during the post-glacial? Geological evidence and impacts, in Benjamin, J. et al. (eds.), Underwater Archaeology and the Submerged Prehistory of Europe: Oxbow Books, p. 245–262.
- ^ a b c Ferguson, S. (2012). Evaluation of Pleistocene to Holocene (MIS 5 to 1) climatic changes in southwestern Black Sea: A palynological study of DSDP Site 380. Department of Geology and Geophysics (Master’s thesis). Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College.
- ^ Dimitrov, P. (1982). "Radiocarbon datings of bottom sediments from the Bulgarian Black Sea shelf". Oceanology. 9: 45–53.
- ^ S2CID 129316719.
- .
- ^ Hiebert, F.T. (2001). "Black Sea coastal cultures: Trade and interaction". Expedition. 43 (1): 11–20.
- ^ Özdoğan, M. (2011). "Submerged sites and drowned topograhies along the Anatolian coasts: An overview". In Benjamin, J.; Bonsall, C.; Pickard, C.; Fischer, A. (eds.). Submerged Prehistory. Oxford, UK: Oxbow. pp. 219–229.
- ^ .
- ^ ISBN 978-0684810522.
- ^ Wilford, John Noble (1996). "Geologists link Black Sea deluge to farming's rise". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
- ^ Radford, Tim (14 September 2000). "Evidence found of Noah's ark flood victims". The Guardian.
- ^ "Evidence of Human Habitation in the Black Sea @ nationalgeographic.com". National Geographic.
- ^ a b Chepalyga, A.L. (2003). "Late glacial great flood in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea". Geological Society of America. Abstracts with Programs. 35 (6): 460.
- ^ ISBN 9781402053023.
- .
- .
- .
- .
- ^ Dimitrov, P. (2003). "The Black Sea – a clue to the secret of world flood". Oceanology. 4: 52–57.
- ISBN 954-579-335-X.
- .
- doi:10.1038/ngeo1106.
- .
- S2CID 128399296.
- .
- ISBN 978-1-4020-5302-3.
- .
- ^ Lippsett, L. (2009). "Noah's not so big flood". Oceanus. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Retrieved 2020-01-29 – via whoi.edu.
- ^ Yanko-Hombach, V.; Mudie, P.; Gilbert, A.S. (2011). "Was the Black Sea catastrophically flooded during the Holocene? Geological evidence and archaeological impacts". In Benjamin, J. (ed.). Submerged Prehistory. Oxford Books. pp. 245–262.
- .
- .
- – via ScienceDirect.
Further reading
- Aksu, Ali E.; et al. (2002). "Persistent Holocene Outflow from the Black Sea to the Eastern Mediterranean Contradicts Noah's Flood Hypothesis". GSA Today. 12 (5): 4–10. .
- Sperling, M.; Schmiedl, G.; Hemleben, C.; Emeis, K. C.; Erlenkeuser, H.; Grootes, P. M. (2003). "Black Sea impact on the formation of eastern Mediterranean sapropel S1? Evidence from the Marmara Sea". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 190: 9–21. .
- Gökaşan, E.; Algan, O.; Tur, H.; Meriç, E.; Türker, A.; Şimşek, M. (2005). "Delta formation at the southern entrance of Istanbul Strait (Marmara sea, Turkey): a new interpretation based on high-resolution seismic stratigraphy". Geo-Marine Letters. 25 (6): 370–377. S2CID 130792746.
- Eris, K.; Ryan, W. B. F.; Cagatay, N.; Sancar, Ü.; Lericolais, G.; Menot, G.; Bard, E. (2008). "The timing and evolution of the post-glacial transgression across the Sea of Marmara shelf south of İstanbul" (PDF). Marine Geology. 243 (1–4): 57–76. .
- Dimitrov, Petko.; Dimitrov, Dimitar. 2004. The Black Sea, the flood, and the ancient myths. Varna (Bulgaria): Slavena.
- Keith, M.L.; Anderson, G.M. (1963). "Radiocarbon Dating: Fictitious Results with Mollusk Shells". S2CID 24213036.
- National Geographic News. 2009-02-06. "Noah's Flood" Not Rooted in Reality, After All?
- Nature. 2004. Noah's Flood. 430: 718–19
- Ryan, W.B.F.; Pitman III, W.C.; et al. (1997). "An abrupt drowning of the Black Sea shelf" (PDF). Marine Geology. 138 (1–2): 119–126. S2CID 129316719. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
- Yanko-Hombach, Valentina. 2007. The Black Sea Flood Question: Changes in Coastline, Climate and Human Settlement. ISBN 1-4020-4774-6
- Chepalyga, A.L. 2006. The late glacial Great Flood in the Ponto-Caspian basin. In: The Black Sea Flood question: changes in coastline, climate and human settlement. Springer. pp. 119–148 [1]
- Giosan, Liviu; et al. (2009). "Was the Black Sea catastrophically flooded in the early Holocene?". Quaternary Science Reviews. 28 (12–2): 1–6. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.10.012.at the sponsoring institution's website.
This article (possibly not identical to the preceding citation) is available online with unrestricted access here - Noah's Not-so-big Flood
- Lericolais, G.; et al. (2009). "High frequency sea level fluctuations recorded in the Black Sea since the LGM". Global and Planetary Change. 66 (1–2): 65–75. S2CID 140710053.
- "Ballard and the Black Sea"
- Ryan, William B.; ISBN 978-0-684-85920-0
- Dimitrov, D. 2010. Geology and Non-traditional resources of the Black Sea. ISBN 978-3-8383-8639-3. 244p.
- The late glacial Great Flood in the Ponto-Caspian basin Archived 2015-05-12 at the Wayback Machine
- Yanko-Hombach, Valentina (December 8, 2006), Allan S. Gilbert, Nicolae Panin and Pavel M. Dolukhanov (ed.), The Black Sea Flood Question, Springer, p. 999, ISBN 978-1-4020-4774-9
- Shopov Y. Y., Т. Yalamov, P. Dimitrov, D. Dimitrov and B. Shkodrov (2009b) Initiation of the Migration of Vedic Aryans to India by a Catastrophic Flooding of the Black Sea by Mediterranean Sea during the Holocene." Extended Abstracts of LIMPACS-3 International Conference of IGBP, PAGES, 5–8 March 2009, Chandigarh, India, pp.126–127.