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Photo: DPA

Scientists find sunken islands in the Caribbean

Published: 10 May 10 12:58 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/sci-tech/20100510-27097.html

German scientists announced on Monday they believe they have discovered sunken islands in the Caribbean Ocean following a deep sea expedition in April.

During their six weeks in the waters north of Venezuela and west of the Antilles, the experts from the University of Greifswald analysed rock samples from depths of more than 1,000 metres.

The “Meteor” crew then used echo sounding to measure the ocean floor, an exercise which revealed significant differences in depth compared to current marine charts.

In fact, some of the underwater mountains listed on charts did not exist at all, while other areas thought to be flat showed rises of up to 1,000 metres, geologist Martin Meschede said.

The team's biggest surprise came from the samples they dredged from the ocean floor, which showed stones that could only have come from very shallow depths.

Click here for a photo gallery of the expedition.

“We found remnants of coral, snails and algae that are only found in the light-flooded upper level of the sea,” Meschede said.

As a result of their findings, the scientists believe that the submarine mountains, whose summits now top out at between 800 and 1,000 metres below the surface, were volcanic islands in the Caribbean Sea some 40 to 50 million years ago.

The Greifswald group hypothesises that they were part of a reef that grew on a basalt platform and sank during a seismic event in the ocean’s crust.

DDP/The Local (news@thelocal.de)

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Your comments about this article:

#1
14:19 May 10, 2010 by JMWinPR
Isn't this about the same time the Greater Antilles were formed?
Report abuse »
#2
18:19 May 10, 2010 by Bensonradar
...a deep sea exhibition in April.

I think you mean a DEEP SEA EXPLORATION

they were not visiting an exhibition!
Report abuse »
#3
19:17 May 10, 2010 by lindsayliberty
It will be a great place for travel and diving, and I think it can be added to most beautiful places of the world http://magazine.joomag.com/World_Top_100_Beautiful_Places/158
Report abuse »
#4
20:13 May 10, 2010 by patmbrown00
I tried to warn them not to overpopulate small islands. They capsize and sink every time.

Sincerely,

Hank Johnson D-Georgia

US Representative
Report abuse »
#5
20:40 May 10, 2010 by frankbuster
Thirty or forty years ago, there was a special on TV ahowing an area in the Caribbean that had sunk. Showed where roads went from dry land down into the city underwater. It would be very interesting if someone could find it and show it again.

Frank Newman

Kirkland, WA.

frankbuster@comcast.net
Report abuse »
#6
22:50 May 10, 2010 by SWB123
Then again there is this from DECEMBER 9, 2009:

http://www.heralddeparis.com/previously-undiscovered-ancient-city-found-on-caribbean-sea-floor/65855

Never heard another word about it, and can't find anything, but reproductions of this article on the web. I am beginning to think that the news is all fake, and politics is just pablum for the masses to keep us all occupied while they steal our lunch!
Report abuse »
#7
22:52 May 10, 2010 by Jeff34781
"I tried to warn them not to overpopulate small islands. They capsize and sink every time.

Sincerely,

Hank Johnson D-Georgia

US Representative "

lmao... well done
Report abuse »
#8
22:52 May 10, 2010 by greatmag
They sank 50,000 years ago because of global warming caused by cavemen driving SUV's
Report abuse »
#9
00:54 May 11, 2010 by Johnnyrinelander
I know that this sounds logical and I apologize out front for being sane, but couldn't the debris found on the "tops" of these submerged islands have drifted there from someplace else? The ocean can be quite violent at times and simple things like bottles tossed into the sea with messages have been known to wash up thousands of miles away. If surface currents can do this, why not currents under the surface? Just a thought.
Report abuse »
#10
02:34 May 11, 2010 by derExDeutsche
I can't believe Gore isn't 'Al'l over this development !!! Oh wait...
Report abuse »
#11
04:59 May 11, 2010 by Capt. Sebastian
If this is not some Florida real estate, I will be surprised. Otherwise, thanks for this great piece of news that will really come in handy.
Report abuse »
#12
06:11 May 11, 2010 by bugger
Obviously, too many people gathered on one side of each island, causing them to tip over and sink. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Tennessee) explained to Congress that he also feared this would happen to Guam. Obama says it is George W, Bush's fault and places the blame on his shoulders.
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#13
07:41 May 11, 2010 by wood artist
I recall an article many years ago, I think from National Geographic, which detailed the fall of the coastal area of a city...I think it was Port Royal...in relatively recent history. As I recall, it was attached to an earthquake or something, but if you looked right off the current shoreline, you could see the old roads and buildings.

Although the timing is off, I can't help but wonder if this isn't more of the same thing. We keep thinking in short timelines, and Mother Nature deals in much longer cycles. I'll bet there's thousands of these types of things out there.

wa
Report abuse »
#14
12:00 May 11, 2010 by otheus
@SWB123 -- that satellite imagery can be used to find "underwater cities" is a myth. An example off the coast of Africa led the Mail Online to do some research on this and ended up dispelling the notion. http://bit.ly/bfXVjF
Report abuse »
#15
23:23 May 16, 2010 by optomlinson
Question: What do you call a sunken island?

Answer: The ocean floor!

Morons. Oh, not the scientists who did the research; the idiots who paid the bill.

Geological shift happens.
Report abuse »
#16
03:18 June 4, 2010 by rdiac
@ SWB123, re that report you mentioned;

http://www.heralddeparis.com/previously-undiscovered-ancient-city-found-on-caribbean-sea-floor/65855 ;

If you look at picture 2, which is supposedly an aerial shot of the ocean floor at a 50 degree angle, you might notice that a couple of the "roads" receding in the distance loose neither colour nor clarity as they get further away.

Photoshop. Sorry mate.
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