Ancient Underwater ‘Lost City’ Is Actually The Result Of A Gas Leak
The ‘ancient ruins’ of a long lost Greek city have turned out to be the result of a prehistoric gas leak, according to new research.
The site was originally discovered by snorkelers after they found what they thought to be circular column bases and paved floors on the sea floor.
It was initially thought that an ancient city had been submerged by tidal waves off the shore of the Greek holiday island Zakynthos.
However, new research published in the journal Marine and Petroleum Geology, shows the site was actually created by a natural geological phenomenon that took place up to 5 million years ago.
Following a detailed search of the underwater site near Alikanas Bay by archaeologists, researchers at the University of East Anglia and the University of Athens, Greece analysed the mineral content and texture of the underwater formations.
They found that the underwater features were naturally formed and not man-made.
“The disk and doughnut morphology, which looked a bit like circular column bases, is typical of mineralization at hydrocarbon seeps - seen both in modern seafloor and palaeo settings,” explained lead author Prof Julian Andrews from UEA.
“We found that the linear distribution of these doughnut shaped concretions is likely the result of a sub-surface fault which has not fully ruptured the surface of the sea bed. The fault allowed gases, particularly methane, to escape from depth.
“Microbes in the sediment use the carbon in methane as fuel. Microbe-driven oxidation of the methane then changes the chemistry of the sediment forming a kind of natural cement, known to geologists as concretion”.
The researcher added: “This kind of phenomenon is quite rare in shallow waters. Most similar discoveries tend to be many hundreds and often thousands of meters deep underwater”.
Image credit: University of East Anglia
