SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Finding Atlantis

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS -January 22, 2002: Finding Atlantis

By Jerilyn Watson
VOICE ONE:

This is Doug Johnson.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Bob Doughty¹ with SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, a VOA Special English program about recent
developments in science. Today we tell about efforts to find and prove the existence of the ancient lost city of
Atlantis.

((THEME))

VOICE ONE:

A French scientist believes he has identified the mysterious ancient city of Atlantis. Jacques Collina -Girard says
it probably was an island near Spain that sank about eleven-thousand years ago. He says he made the discovery
while studying levels of the Atlantic Ocean in ancient times.

For thousands of years, people told of the highly developed ancient civilization of Atlantis. The island-city
became a legend --a story repeated over time. The Greek writer Plato wrote about it more than two -thousandthree-
hundred years ago. Today, scientists are trying to find evidence of Atlantis and prove it existed.

VOICE TWO:

Jacques Collina-Girard says Atlantis was an island called Spartel. He says it was
about thirty-two kilometers southwest of what is now Tarifa, Spain and about
nineteen kilometers northwest of Tangier, Morocco. The scientist says Atlantis
’
remains² now are sandy areas on the ocean bottom. He estimates that these remains
could be as deep as one-hundred-twenty-five meters below the surface of the ocean.

Mister Collina-Girard published his research in the
“Proceedings³ of the French Academy of Sciences.
”
The magazine “New Scientist”
also reported his

findings. Mister Collina-Girard works for the University of the Mediterranean⁴ in
Aix-en-Provence, France. He is an expert in the history, structure and development
of the Earth.

VOICE ONE:

Mister Collina-Girard studied levels of the Atlantic Ocean between Spain and
Morocco. He says this area contained seven islands during the last Ice Age about
twenty-thousand years ago. He believes the sea level at that time was about one

hundred-twenty meters lower than it is today.

The French scientist says the seven islands were at the west end of the Strait of Gibraltar. This is very similar to
where Plato placed Atlantis. Plato wrote that Atlantis was in front of what he called the Pillars of Hercules.
Mister Collina-Girard says the Pillars of Hercules now are known as the Strait of Gibraltar.

VOICE TWO:

Plato wrote about Atlantis in his works “Timaeus”
and “Critias.
”
He wrote that the people of Atlantis had a
highly developed civilization for many centuries. The island was a center for trade and business. He described the
people of Atlantis as powerful and intelligent. Their rulers governed areas of Europe and Africa in addition to

'Atlantis' returns
Today a space shuttle carries
the name
(Map -The World Factbook
2001)

their own island.

Plato described a land of beautiful mountains, valleys and rivers. The people enjoyed rich harvests and grew
many kinds of herbs, fruits and nuts. Many animals lived on Atlantis, including a large population of elephants.

Plato wrote that the society was a happy one for centuries. In its last years, however, the people were guilty of
great wrongdoing. The gods punished them by destroying their city.

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE ONE:

Ice covered large parts of the Earth during the Ice Age. When the Ice Age ended, the Earth warmed. Much of the
ice melted. Mister Collina-Girard says this caused the sea level to rise for about fifteen-thousand years. At first it
rose slowly. Then it rose faster as time passed.

Toward the end of the melting period, the ocean covered all but Atlantis and one other island. Mister Collina -
Girard reports that the sea rose an average of two-point-four meters during each of the last three -hundred years
that Atlantis existed. About eleven-thousand years ago, the scientist says Atlantis disappeared under the water.

VOICE TWO: Plato wrote a different ending for Atlantis. He wrote that volcanoes destroyed it. However, Mister
Collina-Girard says Plato may have been trying to add interest to his story. Mister Collina -Girard also says Plato
was wrong about the size of Atlantis. Plato wrote that it was bigger than Asia and Libya together. Mister Collina-
Girard says it was much smaller. The scientist says it was only about fourteen kilometers long by five kilometers
wide.

VOICE ONE:

Mister Collina-Girard says an accident led him to find where he believes Atlantis existed. He says he made the
discovery while doing research about another ancient civilization. This caused him to investigate changing sea
levels in the ancient world.

Other scientists say there is only one way to find out if Atlantis was near Spain. They say scientists must explore
the bottom of the ocean. Jacques Collina -Girard plans to dive in the area next summer. Finding objects from a
human society would provide more evidence for his discovery.

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE TWO:

Over the centuries, scientists, historians⁶, writers and sailors all have searched for Atlantis in many places. Today,
however, one of the commonly accepted beliefs is that Atlantis was an island called Thira about one-hundredthirteen
kilometers north of Crete in the Aegean Sea.

Some people believe Thira was Atlantis because a volcano destroyed the island about three-thousand-five hundred
years ago. However, Mister Collina-Girard says this idea does not take note of Plato’s writings. Plato
wrote that the gods destroyed Atlantis nine -thousand years before his time. That would mean Atlantis sank about
eleven-thousand years ago.

VOICE ONE:

Some people believe the Azores Islands are the mountain tops of the sunken island of Atlantis. More than one-
hundred years ago, a former United States Congressman⁷, Ignatius Donnelly, said Atlantis probably was in the
Azores Islands. These Atlantic Ocean islands are about one-thousand-three-hundred kilometers west of Portugal.

Mister Donnelly believed this because of studies of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge⁵ in the Eighteen-Seventies. The ridge
is one of the Earth’s largest line of underwater mountains. It extends almost ten-thousand kilometers in the
center of the North and South Atlantic Oceans.

American, British and German ships made deep-sea soundings in the ridge. The soundings showed parts of


sunken land near the Azores. Mud raised from the sunken land contained lava⁸ material that had flowed from
volcanoes.

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE TWO:

Over the years, people have claimed that the lost city of Atlantis existed in other areas around the world. They
include South America, the Middle East, the coast of Western Africa, the Sahara Desert and Iceland. Another
popular theory says the remains of Atlantis are in Antarctica in the most southern part of the world. Many people
believe the city lies under many levels of ice.

This belief developed partly from very old maps. Sailors made one of these maps in Fifteen-Thirteen. A Roman
Catholic⁹ clergyman made another map in Sixteen-Sixty-Five. It appeared to have placed Atlantis in the north
Atlantic Ocean. But the clergyman had written “north”
on the bottom of the page. Scientists in more modern
times say both maps showed the same piece of land. Some people say this land was warm enough in ancient
times for people to have lived there.

VOICE ONE:

Many scientists say Atlantis never existed anywhere. But others now accept the possibility of a real Atlantis
because of the science of plate tectonics. Earth scientists say continents are continually moving. They say the
continents float on pieces of the Earth’s outer layer or crust.

New crust is created as melted rock pushes up from below the ocean floor. Old crust is destroyed as it rolls down
into the hot area and melts again. In the Nineteen-Fifties, American researchers studied the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
They used modern equipment to investigate the ocean floor. Their research helped prove that continents move.

VOICE TWO:

For many years, scientists believed continents separated over millions of years. They believed that continents
divided by moving from side to side. Plate tectonics science suggests that land separates from continents as Earth
moves up and down.

It suggests that such separation takes place when volcanoes explode. This results in the creation¹⁰ of islands. Plate
tectonics science also suggests that seas can cover and destroy islands. Scientist Jacques Collina-Girard believes
that is how life may have ended for the people of Atlantis.

((THEME))

VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS program was written by Jerilyn Watson. It was produced by Caty Weaver¹¹. This
is Doug Johnson.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice
of America.

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1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

4 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

5 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

6 historians   

n.历史学家，史学工作者( historian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Historians seem to have confused the chronology of these events. 历史学家好像把这些事件发生的年代顺序搞混了。
• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。

7 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

8 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。

9 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

10 creation   

n.创造，创造的作品，产物，宇宙，天地万物

参考例句：

• Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
• The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。

11 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。