Detecting traces of 'legendary continent'

A Japanese submarine discovered huge granite blocks near the coast of Brazil and scientists thought it might be part of the Atlantis continent that ancient philosophers had mentioned.

The Japan Ocean-Earth Science and Technology Agency and the Brazilian government announced that Japan's Shinkai 6500 submarine detected granite blocks at a depth of 910m and about 1,000km from the city of Rio de Janeiro. southeast. The height and width of the blocks are approximately 10m, Japan Times reported.

Because granite is only formed on dry soil, Brazilian officials believe that the sea that the submarine discovered was a continent. The location of that continent coincides with the location of the Atlantis continent.

The scene of the Shinkai 6500 submarine operating near the Brazilian coast on April 30. (Photo: Kyodo)

In the dialogues of renowned ancient philosophers like Plato, Timaeus and Critias, an extremely developed civilization existed on the Atlantis continent before it sank into the sea about 12,000 years ago. Later posterity could not find any trace of Atlantis.

Experts from Japan and Brazil said that the continental shelf around granite blocks sank into the sea tens of millions of years ago. Shinkai 6500 submarine does not detect any artificial structures around the rock.

One theory is that when South America and Africa separated from each other more than 100 million years ago, they left a continent and granite blocks as part of it. Based on fossils in the continental shelf near the rock and other data, Japan 's Ocean - Earth Science and Technology Agency predicted the continent to sink into the sea about 50 million years ago, but the process Its sinking lasts several million years.

The assumed location of the Atlantis continent on the map. (Photo: huttoncommentaries.com)

Many experts are cautious when it comes to the possibility that granite blocks near the Brazilian coast are part of the legendary continent of Atlantis. Professor Shinichi Kawakami, a planetary expert, said that it was very likely that the rock was once located on a huge continent before it split into Africa and South America.

"I think the granite block has sunk right after Africa and South America separated. So researchers should understand the chemical composition of the rock to see if it resembles granite in Africa. and South America or not, " he said.

Kawakami added that the Atlantis concept appeared before modern geography began. So the scientific community should not conclusively conclude any problems related to Atlantis.