Marine Archaeology

Rokcet Scientist · Post by **Rokcet Scientist** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:19 pm

Charlie Hatchett wrote:
Scientists compiled three-dimensional seismic records from oil-prospecting vessels working in the North Sea over 18 months to piece together a landscape covering 23,000 square kilometres, stretching from the coast of eastern England to the edge of northern Europe, just short of the south coast of Norway. The scientists identified the scars left by ancient riverbeds and lakes, some 25 kilometres across, and salt marshes and valleys.
This is the detail we need to find ripe hunting grounds off the coasts of France and Spain...old alluvial deposits.

Find a ship with side-scan sonar, best on an ROV or Pavane, and go make your charts.

Charlie Hatchett · Post by **Charlie Hatchett** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:55 pm

Find a ship with side-scan sonar, best on an ROV or Pavane, and go make your charts.

The chart making is easy. Finding a ship, not so easy...it takes $$$.

Find me a ship, and I'll go back to sea...gladly.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:37 pm

http://www.niot.res.in/

The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) was established in November 1993 as an autonomous society under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India with the support of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras , (IITM) with its Head Quarters inside the IITM Campus. NIOT is managed by a Governing Council and the Director is the head of the Institute.

The major aim of starting NIOT under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, is to develop reliable indigenous technology to solve the various engineering problems associated with harvesting of non-living and living resources in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which is about two-thirds of the land area of India.

Side scan sonar is being used today in the Gulf of Cambay. They are used under the pervue of NIOT. We need more of 'em.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Wed May 02, 2007 11:57 am

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070415/a ... 649465.asp

Chennai, April 14: Krishna’s mythological city of Dwarka may have been destroyed by a tsunami 3,000 years ago, a group of ocean scientists have claimed.

The Indian version of the ancient Greek legend of “Lost Atlantis” was offered at a recent seminar here by a team from the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai.

Researcher D. Venkata Rao suggested that undersea ruins in the Gulf of Cambay off Gujarat are the debris of a city that suffered a “tectonic upheaval similar to the December 2004 tsunami that submerged the entire landmass”.

The discovery of the ruins in 1999-2004 by the institute had set off a heated debate whether they were the remnants of Krishna’s Dwarka.

An Article about the work at the Gulf of Cambay.

Rokcet Scientist · Post by **Rokcet Scientist** » Wed May 02, 2007 4:50 pm

Interesting primer, Beagle. Thanks for the link. Any idea where there's been more extensive coverage?

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Thu May 03, 2007 8:26 pm

Hi Rokcet, I would've answered sooner but I got my eyes dilated today and haven't been able to read on the computer.

Aside from NIOT, I'm not certain how much it's being used. Ballard may have side scan sonar though. His underwater rig has recently been in the Gulf of Mexico, and will soon be off the coast of Connecticut I think.

Ballard did some work in the Black Sea several years ago and some scientists are going back to there soon, but more to the Northeast section.

They'll probably very common in a few years, I would think.

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu May 03, 2007 8:27 pm

but I got my eyes dilated today

That used to happen to me when I was younger.

Too much beer was usually the cause.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Thu May 03, 2007 9:15 pm

Too much beer was usually the cause.

I wish that was the case.

Post by **Minimalist** » Fri May 04, 2007 10:14 am

Okay. Now we're getting somewhere!

http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/04/stories ... 361300.htm

Alok Tripathi, Superintending Archaeologist, UAW,who led the excavation, said: "The discovery of this wooden block is of great importance because these submerged stone structures are known for the past 40 years. But no material was available from these structures, which can be dated. Stones cannot be easily dated. Dates given earlier were based on different interpretations."

The block, made of local beach wood, would be sent for carbon-14 dating and "it will give the final date for the submerged structures at Dwaraka," said Dr. Tripathi, a trained diver as well.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Fri May 04, 2007 11:30 am

Dwaraka is traditionally associated with Lord Krishna. It was also a port and is, therefore, an important site from the archaeological point of view.

A port city - cool.

Post by **Minimalist** » Fri May 04, 2007 11:53 am

I don't know if I buy the tsunami theory, though. That water recedes.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Fri May 04, 2007 12:07 pm

We'll know the story within a few years I think. India has a history of tectonic upheaval though, which would cause a tsunami. The drying up of the Sarasvati/Saraswati river is blamed on tectonic shift.

This in situ piece of wood was taken pretty close to the mouth of the river I think. I would think that the older city would be farther out. It would be nice to see a map of the site. Won't be long probably.

Cognito · Post by **Cognito** » Fri May 04, 2007 1:10 pm

We'll know the story within a few years I think. India has a history of tectonic upheaval though, which would cause a tsunami. The drying up of the Sarasvati/Saraswati river is blamed on tectonic shift.

Beags, check on that statement. I believe the Sarasvati was primarily glacial meltwater and dried up as the glaciers subsided post-Pleistocene.

Post by **MichelleH** » Fri May 04, 2007 1:29 pm

Shoreline changes during the last 2000 years on the Saurashtra coast of India: Study based on archaeological evidences

From: CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 92, NO. 1, 10 JANUARY 2007

http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jan102007/103.pdf Full Article

Abstract: Shoreline shift coupled with sea-level change have always remained intriguing aspects due to wider ramifications for the populations living on the coast. Different methods are employed to understand and explain their causes and quantum. In this communication an attempt is made to study shoreline and sea-level changes during the last 2000 years on the basis of archaeological evidence. Archaeological excavations undertaken at Bet Dwarka (western most part of India) revealed an interesting cultural sequence commencing from protohistoric period (3800 yrs BP) to historical period (1600 yrs BP). Excavation was undertaken in six trenches up to the lowest level of archaeological findings. The results from these trenches suggest that the oldest habitation was situated below the present high water line. This is an indication of a lower sea level during that period of settlement. 14C ages and archaeological data suggest a time bracket for these habitations between 2050 and 1650 yrs BP (calibrated). Analysis of sea level versus ancient settlement suggests that around the Christian era sea level was lower by 2 m than the present. The remains from the excavation also suggest that one of the attractions for early settlers was the availability of marine resources around the island. Data from early historical period and other archaeological sites situated along the Indian coast confirm this finding.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Fri May 04, 2007 2:16 pm

Beags, check on that statement. I believe the Sarasvati was primarily glacial meltwater and dried up as the glaciers subsided post-Pleistocene.

I know what you're saying Cogs. I was originally posting about the meltwater, and I still think it has to be a big factor. But then I ran across a geological paper somewhere saying that plate tectonics were the cause.

I'll find it somewhere and repost it.