The Atlantic Ridge is a mountainous section of the ocean floor running north-south in the center of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies at the intersection of two tectonic plates and three tectonic plates intersect in the area of the Azores Plateau. It is one of the most active volcanic areas in the world so very unstable. From about 200,000 B.C. until about 10,000 B.C. people lived on parts of the North Atlantic Ridge which Plato and others referred to as Atlantis.
The warm waters of the Gulf Stream circled Atlantis, so even at the height of the Ice Age most of it was a comfortable place for people to live. The ideal climate plus their isolation were factors that enabled the Atlanteans to develop their advanced civilization.
The most recent ice age started in about 50,000 B.C. and lasted until about 10,000 B.C. when the snow and ice suddenly melted. During the ice age, the Atlantic Ocean was over 300 feet lower than today. That is because the water from the oceans was incorporated as snow and ice in the glaciers. Therefore, islands were larger and the continental shelves were exposed. The continental shelves extend out as much as 200 miles from the European and American continents. Fertile soil and the animals that inhabited these gentle coastal areas attracted the many Atlanteans who moved there.
The Azores Islands were the mountain tops of Atlantis. The Canary and Cape Verde Islands and the island of Madeira were all much higher until about 12,000 years. Iceland is the only large land area of the Atlantic Ridge above the surface today and it is very unstable, experiencing a major earthquake about every 80 years. Earthquakes stimulate volcanoes and in 1783, a volcanic eruption in Iceland killed 75% of the livestock and 24% of Iceland’s population.
Thank you for visiting my blog. For more information on Atlantis and what this lost civilization was like, please consider reading my book, Atlantis: Insights From A Lost Civilization. Thanks again and be sure to leave a comment below on your thoughts
