Natural Science Forum / Biology / Paleontology / September 2004

 But, it is given that da Vinci, like everybody who has ever
 lived in Italy would debate that claim. Since the only
 explantion Italy has ever had for anything is that
 Volcanoes created everything, and then Julius arrived.
 And then everybody lived in Venetian flood plains forever after.

 It is given that Noah's Ark is a myth. Since the only
 way Israel could flooded in 40 days and nights,
 would be if the only placed it precipitated in any form,
 rain, snow, ice, sleet, hail, on the entire Earth for 40 days,
 was in Israel. That's even if you include the standard
 Middle Easterner interpretion of time that a day is
 REALLY a thoushand years, not a normal sunny day like
 we have today.

 That's only a better explanation in the sense that
 it fits perfectly, it's an unfailable answer,
 with the Physics theory-de-jeur. That volcanoes,
 floods, ice ages, and humans cause global warming.

 Sadly, you, and maybe millions of other people,
have been misled on this subject.

 Alas, there was no "Noachian" Black Sea Flood, and
the science in William Ryan's and Walter Pitman's book
"Noah's Flood: the event that changed history" has in
several cases been superceded by better information that
indicates that there was no such event, and was in most
cases preceded by evidence that indicated that there was
no such event.
 Ryan and Pitman set out to overturn the orthodox view of
the history of the Black Sea, but they have apparently
abandoned their hypothesis, if more recent articles
co-authored by Ryan are any indication.
 The orthodox view has prevailed, subject to some recent
modifications.

 There is evidence that there was an _outflow_ southward
from the Black Sea through the Bosphorus into the Mediterranean
from more than 10000 years ago
(well before Ryan and Pitman's initial 5600 BCE flood date),
continuously until the present day, though there may have been
a relatively short interruption.
 And evidence from the south shore of the Black sea shows that
the level of the Black Sea was only 18 m below the present level
at the time of the supposed flood.
 The more recent claim by Ryan puts the flood date at 8400 BP,
or about 9000 years ago, but then the "floodwaters" through the
Bosphorus channel would have been only about 5 metres deep.
 9000 years ago is when everybody else always thought that
Mediterranean saltwater first entered the Black Sea. At about
that time, the last phase of Glacial Lake Agassiz, in central
Canada, finally found an outlet to the sea through or under the
remnants of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, and so out into the North
Atlantic, raising sea level an appreciable amount, and _perhaps_
triggering a sudden inflow of saltwater into the Black Sea basin.
 But probably not sudden or great enough to inspire a Noachian
Flood myth.
 Better candidates are widespread inundation of low-lying parts
of the Persian Gulf associated with the final draining of Glacial
Lake Agassiz, and similar flooding of the Tigris-Euphrates delta,
and (most likely) simultaneous flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates,
which would have looked like a flooding of the entire world from
the viewpoint of a person near present-day Baghdad. These candidates
could each or all have inspired the flood myth in the epic of
Gilgamesh, which predates the first known appearance of the Noachian
Flood myth.

 Check this out, for a layman-friendly synopsis of the refutation:

http://home.entouch.net/dmd/bseaflod.htm

 On the draining of Glacial Lake Agassiz:

http://cgrg.geog.uvic.ca/abstracts/PerkinsOnceDuring.html

  Full article:

http://www.highbeam.com/library/doc0.asp?DOCID=1G1:94334735&refid=ip_encyclopedi
a_hf&COOKIE=NO

 And here's a fairly recent news item on refutation of Ryan's
and Pitman's hypothesis:

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/4949335.htm

<BEGIN QUOTE>
January 14, 2003

Scientists are seriously challenging a recent, fascinating proposal
that Noah's epic story -- setting sail with an ark jam-full of animal
couples -- was based on an actual catastrophic flood that suddenly
filled the Black Sea 7,500 years ago, forcing people to flee.

In a detailed new look at the rocks, sediments, currents and seashells
in and around the Black Sea, an international research team pooh-poohs
the Noah flood idea, arguing that all the geologic, hydrologic and
biologic signs are wrong.

Little that the earth can tell us seems to fit the Noah story, they
say. The new research takes direct aim at the work of two Columbia
University geologists -- William Ryan and Walter Pitman -- whose
proposal in 1997 ignited much new interest, and much new research,
into Middle East history and geology.

<END QUOTE>

 And here are a couple of scientific papers:

"Is the abrupt drowning of the Black Sea shelf at 7150 yr BP a myth?"

http://lava.tamu.edu/courses/geol101/herbert/docs/BlackSeaFloodCritique.pdf

"Persistent Holocene Outflow from the Black Sea to the Eastern
Mediterranean Contradicts Noah's Flood Hypothesis"

http://www.geosociety.org/pubs/gsatoday/toc0205.htm

 And there's lots more, but you'd need access to scientific journals
to read it, but you could ask me for more details if you want them.
 Some of the articles are available on the Web.

 Sorry to splash water in the frying pan.

Daryl Krupa