Noah disproved

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FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATE June 14, 2002
CONTACT: Jodi Ackerman
Phone: (518) 276-2146
ackerj2@rpi.edu

Noah's Flood Hypothesis May Not Hold Water

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor Part of International Research Group Refuting Popular Theory

TROY, N.Y - In 1996, marine geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman published a scientifically popular hypothesis, titled Noah's Flood Hypothesis. The researchers presented evidence of a bursting flood about 7,500 years ago in what is now the Black Sea. This, some say, supports the biblical story of Noah and the flood.

But, such a forceful flood could not have taken place, says Jun Abrajano, professor of earth and environmental sciences at Rensselaer. He is part of an international team of scientists who refute the so-called Noah's Flood Hypothesis.

Abrajano cites evidence of a much more gradual rising of the Black Sea that began to occur 10,000 years ago and continued for 2,000 years.

According to the Noah's Flood Hypothesis, the Black Sea was a freshwater lake separated from the Mediterranean Sea by a narrow strip of land now broken by the Bosporus Strait. Ryan and Pittman argue that the Mediterranean broke through the land and inundated the Black Sea with more than 200 times the force of Niagara Falls. The salty powerful flood swiftly killed the freshwater mollusks in the Black Sea. This, they say, accounts for fossil remains that can be dated back 7,500 years.

Abrajano's team has challenged the theory by studying sediments from the Marmara Sea, which sits next to the Black Sea and opens into the Mediterranean.

The team found a rich mud, called sapropel in the Marmara. The mud provides evidence that there has been sustained interaction between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea for at least 10,000 years.

"For the Noah's Ark Hypothesis to be correct, one has to speculate that there was no flowing of water between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea before the speculated great deluge," says Abrajano. "We have found this to be incorrect."

GSA (Geological Society of America) Today magazine recently published a paper in its May 2002 edition based on Abrajano's research. His research also will be published this year in Marine Geology, an international science journal.

For a map of the area go to http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/maps/tu-map.jpg

Contact: Jun Abrajano (518) 276-6036, abrajt@rpi.edu



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another fact that proves tht bible is incorrect in sooo many places

 

[Xev]

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It is worthwhile to point out that Genesis 7's flood is bullshit even if the myth had a basis in reality.

Flood stories are actually quite common in that region of the world, Gilgamesh being the most notable example. I think this can be ascribed either to

A: A historical flood.
B: The fact that the flooding of the Nile and the Euphrates was rather important to the local economy.
C: For some odd reason, worldwide flood myths exist in many, many cultures.

A historical flood is not necessary to explain this.

Looks like the theory is taking on water, but time will tell.

Thanks for the story, I'll stop pontificating.

 

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Thanks for the story, I'll stop pontificating.

No it's all right And I know about the floods in many cultures. What I didn't say is tht this actually proves MY theory The theory which says tht Moses just wrote down some stories, myths, legends in his book (Exodus) from the Egyptian royal library he had access to. In this particular case it is the story of Giglamesh

and I'm aware of these flood stories in many cultures. Even central americans have one. The cause of this I think is tht ~10 000 years large territories of ice were melting (it were the final days of the ice age then) and it sure caused a hell lot of floods worldwide, thus making them logically appear in myths of many cultures.

 

[Raithere]

Originally posted by Xev
C: For some odd reason, worldwide flood myths exist in many, many cultures.

Actually, the reason for the common myth is not odd. Almost every early agrarian civilization settled alongside a source of fresh water, most commonly a river, as they are good for transportation as well as a water source. Even hunter-gatherer tribes needed to settle, albeit temporarily, along rivers. That flood stories were common is not at all unusual. If we were a species of desert creatures we would probably have a common myth about the God(s) covering the Earth with a great sandstorm.

~Raithere