Chapter IV: Calamities

Volcanoes

Atlantis, Mu, or Lemuria, or,  for that matter, any continent or island, could have been wiped out by a strong volcanic eruption.

I have done my research regarding volcanoes and I ran into some very interesting material.

I. What is a volcano and how does it work?

Most of you probably know more or less a few things about volcanoes. Some of you might be even experts in the subject. Nevertheless, I will tell you the whole story of volcanoes, and I'll focus especially on things related to our Atlantis.

I used "Life Nature Library" and "Compton's Encyclopedia" to tell the story of the volcanoes.

The volcano is a vent, or opening, in the earth's crust from which hot rock (lava) is ejected.

The volcanoes can be extinct, dormant, or active. A volcano that has been long inactive and whose vent seems to be closed, is called "extinct". When its activity is only temporally suspended, it's called "dormant". However, it's usually impossible to distinguish between a dormant and an extinct volcano. Vesuvius was thought to be extinct until its eruption in 79 AD. If only the upper vent is solidified, the pressure from below is renewed and blows out the plug like a cork. Many thought-to-be extinct volcanoes woke up. You can have examples in the next chapter.

Volcanoes are usually active around the regions where the earth's crust is either rising or sinking.

A volcano can be followed by an earthquake, or it can be preceded by it.

Eruptions differ just like the volcanoes differ. The lava can flow out through vents or, usually, it just breaks through the sides, seeking the easiest way out. However, the most destructive part of a volcanic eruption is not the flowing lava, but the material blown out by the volcano. Lava normally flows slow and only for a short distance before it congeals. If the cone is closed, the violent eruption blows out the cone composed of lava and cinders and may fling many cubic miles of rocks thousands of feet. These are the most destructive eruptions.

Some volcanoes are underwater, some are on land. Some appear and disappear in a matter of days, from perfectly flat areas or just from the water. As I said, examples can be found in the next chapter. Volcanoes can be the cause of the formation of islands (like Hawaii, Azores, some islands in the Pacific Ocean) or can be the destructive force behind their doom. A volcanic island may change its shape over and over again.

If one volcano erupts, it doesn't mean that the others won't, in the same time. Actually, on Bogoslof Island in the Aleutians demonstrated that a triple eruption can take place in the same time. The event took place in 1796.

A volcanic eruption can bring tidal waves, earthquakes, rains.

The volcanic areas have very fertile land, suitable for crops and wild vegetation.

The cinder the volcano thrown is black, and the tuff formed by the ash has a white color. The tuff is a natural concrete used in building. I mention all this because Plato says that Atlanteans were using black, white, and red rocks in their constructions. Also, the pumice, when it is being thrown out in a molten form, gets a smooth ovaloid form.

The presence of hot springs is very common in volcanic areas. In the cone of a volcano lakes might form overtime.

II. Volcanic Disasters

I am going to talk to you first about the Pacific Ring of Fire. One third of the total volcanoes on Earth are found in this Ring. Also, if you pay close attention, you realize that most of these volcanoes are found on islands and on shore.

One of these volcanoes, Krakatao, in Indonesia, erupted in 1883. The explosion was so strong that it sank a good part of the island. More than 36,000 people died. So that would explain why most of the volcanoes are found on islands. It is sufficient for one volcano to erupt strong enough to sink most of the land. These were the volcanoes of the Pacific Ocean. However, there are plenty in the Atlantic Ocean. Some can be found underwater and some can be found on land. Please visit this link for a map of active volcanoes on the islands in the Atlantic Ocean. (Don't worry, any link you click on here won't cause you to lose this page.) According to my sources, most of the volcanoes found on the ocean floor have unknown names and haven't been studied good enough to know their activity in the past. So Atlantis, being sunk by a volcano eruption, is not such an impossible idea anymore. We found some temples under water, domes, columns, monoliths, and it's normal for them to be there. In 5,000 or 30,000 years many things can happen.

Nowadays we can witness Pompei, as a city struck by a volcano eruption.

It is known that 100,000,000 years ago Africa and America were joined. (Please click here for an image and more explanation.) They have been moving apart 4.5m each year and, at the moment, the distance between them is of 4,500km. This shouldn't come as a shock to anybody. Just take a look at the image I've asked you to click on up there and watch the long mountain-like line descending through the middle of the ocean.

However, I am not satisfied with this explanation. And I'll tell you why. Look at the huge World Map I have asked you to open at the beginning of this page. Looking at it? Good. Now look at the Mid-Altantis Ridge's curve line. And also look at the small islands in the water. It's like a collection of not very blue-yellowish spots. See it? Follow it from up till down and imagine it as a piece of land sunk. See what I mean? Now that it looks like a piece of land to you also, go back million of years ago and try to use the three puzzle pieces to form a big continent: piece 1: the Americas; piece 2: the long sunk image that I've asked you to imagine as a piece of land; piece 3: Africa and Europe. Put them together and complete the big puzzle of a huge continent that split indeed millions of years ago, but didn't split in 2, but in 3 parts.

Left Source: Global Volcanism Program

Below and above, I am giving you two maps, listing the volcanoes in the Atlantic Ocean.

My guess is that a part of the middle piece, not the whole big thing, wasn't completely sunk 15,000 years ago, when the flood occurred. I will ask you to come back to this later, when we talk about Plato and the other writings.

As you can see, lots of volcanic eruptions have taken place around the islands. Could it have happened to them what happened to Krakatao?

In any case, there is a reason why most of the volcanoes are found on islands or places near to the sea; it's a common pattern already. Of course, you can give me examples of volcanoes which are found on the continent, but mostly they are not 'chains' or 'bouquets'.

*The image below shows the volcanoes mainly in Azores, Cape Verde, and Canaries.

Source: Volcanoes of the Atlantic Ocean on Stamps

Other Calamities

Tsunamis, violent earthquakes, cyclones, hurricanes, anything big that your mind can think of.

You've just witnessed what a tsunami can do.

The problem with earthquakes and other calamities, especially in remote areas and in times before the 17th and 18th century, is that no one recorded them. People might mention them in stories, but that would also fade away if no written document supports the statements.

It's not hard to imagine a huge disaster taking place thousands of years ago and sinking big islands. If something like this happened in 5,000 BC, when Europeans and Egyptians weren't sailing in the big sea, who would know about it? Our scientists expect written evidence, like nowadays, from 5,000 BC? From an island that sank and left almost no survivors? God help them!

 
Nowadays, the earth surface is unstable, just like it was thousands of years ago. The Pacific Ocean, the ice accumulated in large quantities in Antarctica, the oceanic faults in all the oceans, will cause, according to scientists, another movement of the crust. It is being said that it's not the poles that shift, but the crust. Einstein stated that the Earth's crust has shifted because the surface was not in equilibrium. And it seems that it will go on shifting until it finds this equilibrium. It's also a fact that the coast of Chile is sinking, that more floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes occur. Let me quote something for you (and if you want to know more, please check this site):

"Men of science state that the Atlantic fault seems to have its origin in the Norwegian Sea.

The extremely enigmatic course of this Atlantic fault passes by the coastline of Spain, Portugal and part of Africa and then ends close to the Portuguese Guinea. By all means it is clear that the most dangerous oceanic fault that inevitably will generate a tremendous cataclysm is the Ring of Fire in the Pacific Ocean. The news that constantly circulates in the newspapers around the world, has confirmed that the lands which are most punished by earthquakes are precisely in the Pacific Ocean. These cracks in the maritime floor are dangerous symptoms that without a doubt, are warning us of the proximity of a Great Tragedy."

I would like to give you an exact date on the "big flood" all the ancient writing mention, but I've found inconsistent data. I found authors stating that the poles have shifted their axis five times until earth regained equilibrium and I've found other authors claiming otherwise.

I also found guys defending scientists, saying they don't claim things until they are sure of them, but on the other hand, they say, "we don't know for sure, because new discoveries change our views every day". However, they throw rocks to people who don't agree with them. Oh well, this is our scientific society. At least if they could admit they can't know everything. Their theories change like a car fanatic millionaire would change his cars...