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by Matthew Moore
Last Updated: 20 February 2009
from Website
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A "grid of streets" on the
seabed at one of the proposed locations of the lost city
of Atlantis has been spotted on Google Ocean. |
The legend of
Atlantis has excited the public imagination for centuries
Photo: GOOGLE EARTH
The network of criss-cross lines is 620
miles off the coast of north west Africa near the Canary Islands on
the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.
The perfect rectangle – which is around the size of Wales – was
noticed on the search giant's underwater exploration tool by an
aeronautical engineer who claims it looks like an "aerial map" of a
city.
The underwater image can be found at the co-ordinates 31 15'15.53N
24 15'30.53W.
Last night Atlantis experts said that the unexplained grid is
located at one of the possible sites of the legendary island, which
was described by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato.
According to his account, the city sank beneath the ocean after its
residents made a failed effort to conquer Athens around 9000 BC.
Dr Charles Orser, curator of historical archaeology at New York
State University told The Sun that the find was fascinating and
warranted further inspection.
"The site is one of the most prominent places for the proposed
location of Atlantis, as described by Plato," the Atlantis expert
said. "Even if it turns out to be geographical, it definitely
deserves a closer look."
Bernie Bamford, 38, of Chester who spotted the "city", compared it
to the plan of Milton Keynes, the Buckinghamshire town built on a
grid design.
"It must be man made," he said.
Google Ocean, an extension of Google
Earth, allows web users to virtually explore the ocean with
thousands of images of underwater landscapes.
Launched earlier this month, it lets users swim around underwater
volcanoes, watch videos about exotic marine life, read about nearby
shipwrecks, contribute photos and watch unseen footage of historic
ocean expeditions.
The legend of Atlantis has excited the public imagination for
centuries. In recent years "evidence" of the lost kingdom has been
found off the coast of Cyprus and in southern Spain.
Plato described it as an island "larger
than Libya and Asia put together" in front of the Pillars of
Hercules - the Straits of Gibraltar.
He said Atlantis was a land of fabulous
wealth, advanced civilization and natural beauty destroyed by
earthquakes and floods 9,000 years earlier.
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