Геннадий Разумов - Тонущие города

Why the ancient towns came down to the water? What were the reasons for it? A reader will not find out the direct answers in this book. And that is not because they are not existing, but there are too many of them. In general, the science does not accept the synonymous decisions. Doubts are its major moving force. At first it seemed to be sufficient to examine the found submerged towns, to touch them, to study the remains at the laboratories for making everything clear. However, a detailed study causes more questions and proposals regarded the reasons of their destructions.

According to the tectonic hypothesis in science, the priority is given to the concept of the earth surface vibrations. The depth power of earth moves continents, causes falls down and lifts up of the different parts of land. For example, the North coast of the Black sea moves down with a speed of 2–5 mm per year. It seems not to be large. However, one should have in mind, that the age of the most submerged towns comes to hundreds of years. Therefore, this value can be turned into many meters.

According to another hypothesis, the floods of the sea coast’s towns took place due to the lift up of the World Ocean’s level. Now we live at the after-glacial period which started about 17 000 years ago. Since then, glacials and snow hats of our planet’s poles continue to melt slowly but permanently. That leads to the increase of waters” level in the oceans and seas.

Finally, according to the landslide theory, the key to the old mystery should be seeking in the geodynamic processes of today phenomenons. There is an everlasting struggle between two of them. On one hand, the rain and melted waters being accumulated in the soil of coasts are filtering down and wetting the underlaying clay converting it into the slide plane. On the other hand, the waves destruct the coast and weaken the «retaining wall» which keeps the massifs, of soils at equilibrium. As a result, a coast bent loses its stability and slides down towards the sea changing into a landslide.

Practically all territories of the North and East Coasts of the Black sea are affected by the landslide processes. For instance, the landslides at the South Coast of the Crimea occupy about 45% of the whole territory which could be used as a recreational zone.

At present, this phenomenon is successfully overcome. One of the methods used now is a provision of a bank protection and construction of retaining walls with the lateral bracings (buttresses). They are built at о lower part of a bent to keep it from the landslides. Another method includes the work on the slope drainage which takes the ground waters and gets them away thus preventing wetting and weakening the soils at the slide plane. Those methods help to stop the landslides in the region of Big Jalta. The landslides of Chukurlatski, Zheltishevski and Massand-rovski have been completely stabilized. This kind of work was rather complicated for the ancient builders since they did not have either earth-moving and drilling machinery or reinforced concrete precast structures. Therefore, they could not win those disasters and rescue their towns from the sea’s floods.

When considering the ancient floods, the variable reasons should be taken into account. One factor can be decisive only in a few cases; in general, several ones should be discussed. Some factors can play the important role, the others are less significant.

We are very interested in our past and in our future. We want to know what is going to be. But our present time is the most important. This idea belongs to our prominent cinema producer M. Romm. One can”t help thinking about it when the problem of the submerged towns of our time is considered.

The whole humanity has a great concern about Venice which is situated on the islands of the sea’s lagoon in the North Adriatic. Millions of people follow the alarming reports on the dangerous lifts up of the water on the Venetian squares and streets. Scientists and engineers develop the numerous plans for the rescue of the city. The reasons for the floods in the Venetian lagoon are different and not completely clear. Finally the works directed to protect Venice from the floods have been started. Recently the plan to provide a closure for the entrances to the Venetian lagoon has been adopted and put into realization. One can be sure in saying that the people of the world will not permit Venice to repeat the fate of Epi-davrous and other ancient towns which came down to the waters of Adriatic and Mediterranean seas.

In this respect, a struggle of the Netherlands, a small country situated at the opposite part of Europe against the North Sea can be a good example. One third of the Netherlands’ territory is below the sea level. The self-sacrificing, courageous Dutch people struggle against those disasters for many centuries. They not only defend the sea attacks by building the protecting dams but take the new territories from it and provide the innings on the place of the previous bottom of the sea.

One of the most unexpected latest phenomenon is a sudden lift up of the Caspian Sea. Its level for many decades rapidly reduced and came to the stage of 28 m which is lower than the surface of the World Ocean. It made a big concern for the transportation activity since the sea ways became shallow and the entrances to some sea-terminals were complicated. The fishery enterprises also got some difficulties since the environments for the valuable fish became worse and its amount was sufficiently reduced.

In course of this problem quite a number of different projects to save the Caspian Sea (sometimes fantastic) have been developed. However, up to now none of them was adopted and probably will not. The matter is, beginning from the end of the 70th, a reduction of water level in the Caspian Sea was stopped and now it begins to lift up. First, the lift was up to 20 cm, then to 50 cm and finally it amounts to 80 cm. Why it happened? How it can be explained? The scientists discuss this phenomenon and try to find out the solution.

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Насколько изменчивы и несовершенны наши представления об окружающем мире, показывает карта английского путешественника Энтони Дженкинсона (1562 г.). Непривычно для нас изображено им Каспийское море; далеко на север перенесен Арал с вытекающей из него рекой Обь. Пожалуй, верно здесь представлена только Московия.

Но и в действительности лик Земли весьма изменчив. Очертания Каспийского и Аральского морей меняются не только в вековом масштабе, но и на глазах нашего поколения. Отступивший в 50-х годах XX века Каспий, ныне снова наступает на сушу. Затапливаются многие прибрежные земли, оказываются подтопленными города и поселки, вода появляется в подвалах домов.