If terrorist # 1 bin Laden is only looking for secret special services, then half the world is involved in the search for the ancient and mysterious Atlantis. About 6,000 volumes have been published on this topic; the ruins of the ancient state have been "seen" either in the Gulf of Mexico, or in the Mediterranean, or even in Antarctica. The famous Russian oceanologist Alexander Gorodnitsky has a hypothesis different from others
And although Gorodnitsky wrote the famous song "Atlanta" and even found the supposed geographical coordinates of Atlantis in the endless ocean, he is not going to look for a golden statue of Poseidon or some mysterious clues to the knowledge of this most ancient of the worlds.
His interest as a scientist is purely rational - to transfer everything to the geological plane, from the standpoint of myth to transfer to science. After all, if we manage to confirm the reality of the existence of Atlantis, then we must admit the reality of the discrete development of civilization. Those. in the history of mankind there have been and will be natural disasters that destroy civilization, throw it back thousands of years.
Such a convenient and all explanatory evolutionary theory of Darwin, the scientist argues, is bursting at all seams. If we allow global cataclysms, the harmonious system of evolution from the lowest to the highest, which continues on the basis of dialectical and historical materialism, goes to hell. “Atlantis opens up to us not only the prospects for archaeological, geological and historical finds, but also the path to a different understanding of life on Earth. Entire branches of science can be “wrong”!
But first about what he and his colleagues from the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences found in the mysterious triangle between the Azores and Canary Islands and the Strait of Gibraltar. Back in 1984, this scientific sensation for a long time became the front page topic in many world publications.
So, in 1984, Alexander Moiseevich was the deputy head of the expedition on the research vessel "Vityaz" on Mount Ampere in the North Atlantic, 300 miles west of Gibraltar. And when testing a new diving bell on the flat top of this seamount, at a depth of about 100 meters, scientists discovered the ruins of an ancient city, mysterious objects reminiscent of ancient dwellings in Chersonesos: stairs and even something like arches. Studies have shown that this mountain is part of the large system of the Hosshu underwater ridge, which in English means "horseshoe", and it stretches from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Azores. It turns out that a whole huge country has disappeared under the water!
“I myself went down to the top of the mountain on the Argus underwater vehicle,” the scientist recalls, “and since it was impossible to make high-quality photographs of the ruins, my colleagues and I made sketches of individual fragments. Definitely once upon a time it was a city! Of course, Mother Nature could have created everything, but then why are some “rooms” in destroyed buildings the same size and shape? No, it was an inhabited archipelago, which for some reason went under the water … Our expedition managed to show that this country was once on the surface, was a system of islands. Based on the composition of the basalt taken from the tops of the mountains, we came to the conclusion that it solidified in air. This is where the Atlantis hypothesis came from.
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Knowing that at one time the Nazis were keenly interested in Atlantis (they considered themselves direct descendants of the ancient Atlanteans, and the search for the continent was patronized by the Gestapo chief Himmler himself), I ask: how seriously was such work carried out in the USSR? After all, it is no longer a secret that in many mystical and mythological riddles the communists followed a parallel course with the fascists. And the Soviet research vessel "Vityaz" is hardly out of simple curiosity twice (in 1984 and 1986) equipped in those latitudes. Each country wants to be the first to get to the treasury of Atlantean knowledge, which is legendary.
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But it turns out that progressive Soviet science has never set itself such a goal. First, the Soviet Union had no direct access to the Mediterranean, as they say, this was not our sector. Secondly, all the forces of the Soviet special services were sent to search for Shambhala in Tibet.
Well, "Knight" stumbled upon the alleged Atlantis by pure chance, scientists had no idea to look for a lost continent. It's just that in 1984 they conducted a planned survey of the seamounts of the North Atlantic.
Since then, no expeditions have been undertaken to that area. About 10 years ago Greek archaeologists came to Moscow, they were very interested in that place near Gibraltar, they planned their scientific expedition there and wanted to invite Russian oceanologists, in particular Gorodnitsky. But it seems that the expedition did not take place. The question of Mount Ampere is hanging in the air: no international evidence for or against.
I ask, perhaps, the most difficult question: they have been looking for Atlantis for two thousand years - the firemen are looking for, the police are looking for, but no one can find it. But this is not a needle in a haystack! If it existed, they would have found it long ago.
Alexander Moiseevich is not embarrassed by this. In science, the absence of a result does not mean anything. Only 20 years ago, evidence of the existence of the largest civilization - the huge Hittite kingdom - was discovered. Schliemann believed Homer and found Troy! Someday they will find Atlantis, if they have been looking for it for more than 2000 years, then in the near historical perspective, interest in this riddle will not disappear!
Let us remind readers that for the first time the famous philosopher Plato announced it to the world with reference to one of the seven wise men of Ancient Greece Solon. In his words, it seemed like a real paradise: modern (for today's times!) Urban and shipbuilding, advanced metal processing technologies, the widespread use of scientific knowledge … Of course, everyone rushed to look for Atlantis, where, according to legend, his golden statue stood near the temple of Poseidon … If not knowledge, then you can find gold there!
But there are still no scientific prerequisites for the existence of such a continent. Continuous guesses and indirect considerations, there is no lack of them. Some are convinced that the Atlanteans did not die, that they adapted under water: UFOs, other miracles - all this is their handiwork. Others also believe that the Atlanteans survived, but only partially and successfully dissolved among us. The Chinese, Indian, Egyptian and Greek civilizations at one time gave a powerful impetus to the development of progress - however, these peoples appeared on earth as if suddenly, information about their evolutionary path has not reached us.
The famous traveler Thor Heyerdahl was convinced that the descendants of the ancient Atlanteans are the Berbers - white Africans in western North Africa. An interesting tribe of white blue-eyed people lived in the Canaries, but they were exterminated by the Spaniards in the 12th century. In a word, as many scientists, there are so many different opinions, incl. and at the location of Atlantis. Some researchers believe that she died in the Aegean Sea, off the island of Tira. The remains of the destroyed city under water were found there by none other than the famous Jacques-Yves Cousteau. The Frenchman twice came to Moscow, to his colleagues at the Institute of Oceanology and honestly admitted that he did not know what ruins he had found, the secret of Atlantis did not interest him very much.
In general, by and large the question stands squarely: to believe or not to believe the old man Plato? On the maternal side, he was the great-great-grandson of Solon, who in ancient Greece was considered the wisest of the wisest. From which we can conclude that Plato would not have composed, if he was of the wrong blood. However, Aristotle, a student of Plato, was the first to blame his teacher for the fact that he still bent about Atlantis. “Plato is my friend, but the truth is dearer!” - this phrase, which later became winged, he said just about Atlantis. Although Alexander Moiseevich himself in this matter is inclined to believe Plato more than Aristotle.
It all boils down to the following statement of the problem: did there exist in historical time a microcontinent or a giant archipelago that sank catastrophically quickly under water? If it was not there, there is nothing to talk about. But the scientist believes that Atlantis was, and exactly where Plato pointed out - on the other side of the Pillars of Hercules, i.e. to the west of the Strait of Gibraltar, in those places where the scientific expedition "Knight" came across the ruins on Mount Ampere.
Based on this, he formulated a geological model of her death.
This is where the most interesting thing begins: according to the Russian oceanologist, both the death of Atlantis and the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, described in the Bible, and a number of other historical events took place at about the same time, during one very large natural disaster.
- It seems to me, - the scientist explains, - that Atlantis could have perished as a result of a grand catastrophe when the African lithospheric plate collided with the Eurasian one.
This could have caused the strongest earthquake and the eruption of the Santorini volcano in 1450 BC. According to the calculations of historians and geophysicists, it was at this time that the Atlantic broke through into the Mediterranean Sea, and the Strait of Gibraltar arose: before, Africa was connected with Spain by a thin isthmus. The mythology of the exploits of Hercules says: Hercules put his hands and feet on two continents and pushed Africa away from Europe - this is how the Pillars of Hercules were formed.
This is about mythology. But in reality, at that time, a huge amount of ash erupted from the mouth of the Santorini volcano, and the tsunami destroyed the cities and settlements of the Greek archipelago. Geologists believe that the ash cloud circled the globe three times, and giant waves rolled the same number of times.
The biblical exodus of the Jews from Egypt under the leadership of Moses is chronologically dated between 1500-1200. BC. Perhaps it is also associated with a catastrophic volcanic eruption, which led to the "Egyptian darkness", epidemics and famine. The Book of Exodus says that Moses led his people by day, focusing on a pillar of smoke, and at night on a pillar of fire - probably, we are talking about the very volcano Santorini, which is 200 km away from Egypt.
Here it is appropriate to recall the episode when the sea parted, letting in the Jews, and then closed, absorbing the Pharaoh army pursuing them. The scientist believes that this is not a divine craft, but a classic description of the tsunami: already today in Sumatra, when the water left, many vacationers rushed to collect shells and died from a giant wave, which returned a little later and hit the shore.
One global geological cataclysm led to a number of catastrophes of the ancient world: the death of Atlantis, the fall of the Aegean culture and the exodus of Jews from Egypt.
It turns out that the biblical miracles have not only a religious, but also a scientific explanation. In particular, the Old Testament says that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire and brimstone, “hydrogen sulfide poisoned all the surroundings, people were suffocating, and birds fell in flight”. It cannot be ruled out that the death occurred as a result of a series of volcanic eruptions. In the area of the Dead Sea, there is a giant through the lithospheric crack, from which during underwater earthquakes hydrogen sulfide and combustible methane gas are actively released, and when released, it can ignite. If you read the Bible carefully, it says about the smell of sulfur, the formation of salt pillars are signs of tectogenesis, which causes the failures of certain parts of the land.
Nothing new under the moon, a similar story almost happened in 1927 in Yalta, when during the earthquake, according to eyewitnesses, the sea was burning, and the character of Ilf and Petrov, Kisa Vorobyaninov, was taking out a chair from the Columbus theater at that moment. Eyewitnesses also claim that there was a strong smell of sulfur and water was burning. In fact, as a result of the earthquake, large emissions of methane were released from the cracks, which ignited, and it seemed that the sea was on fire.
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As we already said, Alexander Gorodnitsky is not only a doctor of sciences, but also a bard. By coincidence, he wrote his famous song “Atlantes hold the sky on stone hands” almost 20 years before he began to study Atlantis. And what is absolutely incredible, he wrote it on board the sailing ship "Kruzenshtern", when he plowed the ocean in the same latitudes where in 1984 he found the ruins on Mount Ampere.
According to him, he never discussed the topic of Atlantis with his friends-bards (Yuri Vizbor, Bulat Okudzhava, etc.), therefore he does not know about their attitude to this riddle. But I am sure that they were attracted by the mysterious, mysterious Atlantis: what poet would not believe in a beautiful legend ?!
… Strictly speaking, you and I prefer the myth of Atlantis, rather than its reality. Whether we find new knowledge there or not is still a question. But if it nevertheless turns out that Atlantis existed, then the theory of discrete (intermittent) development of civilization will inevitably be confirmed. Do we need it?
And there are reasons for concern. Alexander Gorodnitsky believes that such a cataclysm (though not soon) is quite likely. The fact is that the strength of the Earth's magnetic field is gradually decreasing. And there come periods when it becomes very small, unable to screen, reflect the endless streams of the solar wind. All living things burn out in hard gamma radiation.
As an oceanologist, he claims that life can only survive in the ocean - a water column of several meters dampens the effect of the solar wind.
As in the old days, life will come out of the ocean again, but does it make it easier?