About the "Bimini Road":
The Mystique of Beachrock
Eugene A. Shinn
Abstract
(...)
Adventurer and book writer Peter Thompkins later initiated and financed a
study during which the stones were extensively sampled with a newly
developed coring device. A summary of the expedition is provided by Shinn
(2004). The core borings, proved that the stones are composed of in-situ
natural beachrock that has been submerged by a combination of rising
Holocene sea level and erosion of underlying sand (Shinn 1978). Coring and
examination showed they rest directly on weathered Pleistocene limestone.
The Pleistocene limestone is coated by a reddish-brown calcrete, indicating
subaerial exposure preceding Holocene sedimentation and beachrock
formation. Later, McKusick and Shinn (1980) presented bulk 14C age data
from the cores. The dates ranging from 3510 to 2745 yrs BP indicate the
stones are much too young to be part of the mythological city/state of
Atlantis, which was said to be a legend 7ka when told to Plato 2ka.
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Speculation and Future Research Possibilities
Alternative thinkers who believe the Bimini stones are anthropogenic
features often cite historic harbors in the Mediterranean as models for what
they believe occurred at Bimini during prehistoric or “Atlantian” times. The
sand spits and offshore barrier islands that migrate and form harbors in the
Persian Gulf may well indicate that some ancient harbors in the
Mediterranean developed geologically in a similar fashion. In the Persian
Gulf or Arabian Gulf, one can observe that curved spits have provided
natural sheltered harbors and that villages have been established because of
the shelter they provide. As the spits migrate laterally along the coast and the
harbors fill in, villages adjacent to the shallowing end of the harbor are
abandoned and rebuilt around the deepening newly forming harbor entrance.
Similar processes are likely to have occurred along the southern
Mediterranean shore, where the climate is arid and seawater salinity is
generally elevated. In areas where the harbors were especially important for
commerce, it would be reasonable to build structures around previously
formed natural beachrock-protected harbors. “J” shapes would be expected
in such areas. Because of the abundant ancient cultures in the Mediterranean
region, it would also be reasonable to expect an abundance of artifacts that
might lead archeologists, both conventional and alternative, to conclude that
the harbors were entirely man-made. Ancient Mediterranean cultures may
have simply taken advantage of and added to what nature had already
provided. The argument that the Bimini Road is anthropogenic because of
similarities with stones around ancient Mediterranean harbors may not be
valid.
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Figure 5. Newly exposed submerged beachrock “road” on east side of
Loggerhead Key at Dry Tortugas. The “Loggerhead Road” was exposed by
Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and undermining of sand beneath the stones
caused the rock to subside approximately 1 m.
http://mgg.rsmas.mia.../shinnfinal.pdf
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Edited by Abramelin, 14 August 2012 - 01:21 PM.
3
cormac mac airt, on 14 August 2012 - 07:58 AM, said:
:)
