4. Atlantis located in the Mid Atlantic Ridge.

The most belived Atlantis location is in the islands of the Atlantic Ocean: Azores or Caribbean islands. Authors pointing out such localization are in a very large number: Ignatius Donnelly was the first, then Lewis Spence, Charles Berlitz and Andrew Collins are among the most aknowledged. While Azores are just top of the Mid Atlantic Ridge which is submerged since millions of years, the Caribbean islands fail verifying the geography of Atlantis.

Looking back at Plato’s words about the geographical location of Atlantis it seems clear that Atlantis was very close to Spain since he used the word “before”  and that the opposite continent (which encircled the Atlantic in Plato’s opinion) is the American one, approachable thanks to the Caribbean islands. When in the XIX century they performed the first recording of data from oceanic floors  they found out that in the actual mid Atlantic there was a massive ridge which slightly came out from water, giving consistence to the Azores, at the same latitude of the Iberian peninsula. The earlier serious scholar of Atlantis, Ignatius Donnelly (1), gathered these data and compared habits and mythology of civilizations from old and new world for building up what we can consider the first theory on Atlantis. In 1882 his book “Atlantis the antediluvian world” was best-selling but, above all, featured for first a scientific approach to Atlantis, involving geographical, zoological, botanic and mythological data. Since the great Mid Atlantic Ridge was just in the middle of Atlantic Ocean and the Azores were its tops facing the Iberian Peninsula he thought, like his numerous followers, it was a clear proof a great continent sunk there like Plato stated concerning Atlantis. Donnelly enlightened a school of thinking which would have ruled for most of the XX century and that nowadays still makes people believe Atlantis existed. Then, up to now, his ideas have been reviewed and fixed by new findings and other scholars.

 In first instance some mythological tales of different populations seem to belong to the same source, especially the ones regarding a vanquished fatherland, whose name sounds like from a tale to another. Aztecs spoke about Aztlan, others named Tlapallan, Atalaya, Tantala e and others recalled names similar to “Atlantis”. The recurrence of the phonemes A-T-L-N didn’t look like a coincidence, above all if they were civilizations from opposite sides of the Atlantic to pronounce them. However these civilizations have even some other cultural affinities. On one said many people noticed the same architecture of the pyramids, whose dimensions were in both cases are in relation to some mathematical constants. Architectonically speaking, Affinities become narrower if we look at the buildings made of huge block of stones weighing up to hundredths of tons and placed in both new and old world. Gizeh’s pyramids on one side and Sacausaman, Tiahuanaco on the other. Then what can we say if, simultaneously in the Nile and Peru, these giant stones were joined together with the same metal staples? In each of these locations the same persons must have worked. Of course architectonical and mythological similarities between Atlantic continents seem to come from the same source, like if they inherited all from one vanquished civilization. Such evidence grows if we have a look even at the parallel scientific development of Maya, Aztecs, Incas on one side and of Egyptians and Sumerians on the other. In fact these civilizations had noticeable astronomical knowledge and calendars of great precision, they were also skilled in medicine and politically used to consider their monarchs like real divinities. Then, in Peru, like in Egypt, they used to embalm dead and the finding of tobacco and coca (original of South America) in some Egyptian mummies is certainly proof of a closer relationship between these populations separated by the Atlantic Ocean. There are too affinities between them so that we can’t think they developed independently from each other. There must be a common root. Since the Atlantic ridge emerges just in the middle of Atlantic Ocean people thought that the explanation to all these facts could be find there, where Plato apparently placed the sunken civilization of Atlantis. How did Atlantis interact with these populations? Some think that the survivors of Atlantis, after the catastrophe, reached the coasts of the opposite continents (America and Africa) and begun to civilize indigenous people. Some other think Atlantis already ruled these populations and that, after its disappearance, its memory was collected in some stories which today we call myths. To tell the truth mythology belonging to Pre Columbian, Egyptian and Mesopotamian populations seem when they celebrate people like Toth, Viracocha or Quetzalcoatl, a kind of godlike man looking like the white European man in their body, skilled in scientific arts and rather wise. Some thought they were visitors from Atlantis, who appeared as gods since they own a better development and so native people mistook their actions for a kind of wizardry. Other people, like Donnelly, thought that they were, like Zeus and Poseidon (who appear in many myths), a confused memory of ancient Atlantean kings and heroes. Many noticed how the cultural development of Egypt wasn’t featured by a regular continuity because since the first ages of their official history (3100 AC) their scientific knowledge was already well defined and would have no longer made any step forward, as if they inherited that long time before. We could assume the same for the ancient American civilizations.

 In the XX century, during ‘20s, when French geologist Termier spoke about same pieces of tachylith coming from the oceanic floor (800m deep) next to the Azores, it looked like a great proof pro Atlantis was born. Since tachylith is a kind of glassy lava which usually gets cool and take form under the atmospherical pressure  and since these pieces where dated back 15,000 years before they thought that a great part of the Mid Atlantic Ridge was above the sea level in the time Plato put Atlantis. Anyway other geologists show how that kind of lava could take form even underwater. Spence and Berlitz usually spoke about this proof but with scarce success. Another clue seems to belong to the Guanches, inhabitants of the Canary islands. Before the Portuguese invasion they used to live by primitive ways, like they were survivors of a catastrophe. They were tall, blond and blue - eyed. In their island there were some ruins and inscriptions whose meaning they didn’t know. They were amazed when they saw other people because they thought they were the only survivors of a great old cataclysm which flooded their fatherland, so that they were afraid of water even if they inhabited an island. Anyway they didn’t survive to Portuguese invaders since they were wiped out. The ruins are interesting but don’t say any word and in 1981, in an expedition of Andrea Capellano, the waters surrounding Canaries revealed tunnels and regular shapes. Lot of people really thinks that the Atlantean continent once was a unique platform reaching Azores, Canary islands and Capo Verde.  

The linguistic affinities between the ancient populations of the old and new continent thus become an additional proof of this theory. The several pronunciations of words like “mum” or “dad” is amazing, and so for other words. Berlitz, who was among the most skilled linguists of the world, showed some interesting examples (esempi...)     

Exploring the oceanic floor they found some interesting surprises which, according to these school of thinking, confirms the hypotheses made on Atlantis through the comparison of mythologies. In 1968 some divers found near Bimini some underwater regular formations which looked like a wall or a road. Some blocks were extracted from there and, to tell the truth, there can be few doubts about their artificial paternity. The same road was straight and also featured angles of 90 degrees, thus underlining again its likely artificial origins. Naturalist J. Manson Valentine came back there many times and became really convinced they were the remains of an unknown civilization, or Atlantis. During ’70s naturalist David Zink spent many years exploring the site and in his opinion it was a clear work of man. Dating back some Moogrovia’s roots they concluded these ruins could be 8000 years older. By the way, since that area wasn’t probably above the sea level before 12,000 years ago, it can really be a prehistoric work. In spite of the evidence,  people often disagree with the possible artificial origins of the so called “Bimini wall”. Some point out how the profile of the wall follow the coasts of the islands nearby and so it’d be evidence of its natural origin. But how can they explain the extracted blocks? Caribbean waters are quite clean and not deep and many people, flying over them, usually told they saw some regular shapes in the floor, like if there could really be a civilization there. Charles Berlitz usually spoke about a dive of a certain doctor Brown, who, in the same waters, went in a cavity in the top of a pyramid – like building, and reached a chamber were he found a crystal being hold by two metallic hands. He always refused to reveal the coordinates of that location and usually exposed the crystal during its conferences. Other very interesting findings took place still in the Canary islands in 1981, thanks to some Russian explorers, that were studying underwater geography. They took some photos near the plateau Ampere (which is some tenths of meters under sea level) that revealed the presence of a wall and some stairs.

 The findings in the waters of Bahamas above all gave birth to another thinking which look for Atlantis in that zone, the West Atlantic, in the Caribbean islands. Actually this theory has been embedded in the studies of Andrew Collins and Emilio Spedicato, who identify Atlantis respectively with Cuba and Hispaniola. Before them, Charles Berlitz pointed out Bimini’s ruins and the coincidence of their finding with Edgar Cayce’s prophecy.

 People also tried to locate Atlantis in the Atlantic even thanks to some proofs of botanic and zoology, noticing how some kinds of plants and animals have familiar features in the new and old continent. So a bridge of land between them would explain the migration of such animals, while the common plants would have been imported by a common source (Atlantis…).

 Critical approach. We can now sum up and comment the proofs taken by Atlantologists who place Atlantis in the actual Atlantic Ocean.

·         Existence of the Mid Atlantic Ridge

·         Cultural affinities between ancient civilizations of the new and old world

·         Existence of prehistorical ruins in the Canary islands and Caribbean sea

·         Fully satisfies the geographical coordinates given by Plato

·         Similar flora and fauna in the opposite sides of Atlantic Ocean.

 Many people think the Atlantic Ridge was the platform were Atlantis flourished. That is already a big problem for people who want to promote this theory. Some of them say Atlantis platform sunk, while someone else says it utterly exploded in to pieces.

So, if a piece of ridge really collapsed over itself (a fact physically impossible anyway), we’d be able to find some evidence of that through submarine exploration; this evidence could be some giant craters or other kinds of irregularities in the morphology of the ridge. But such features don’t exsist at all. Then Atlantis was very big (the plain was about 190000 kmq while an island like Sardinia 25000 kmq) and so volcanic explosions couldn’t disintegrate it. In fact there are no clues of big areas collapsed thanks to volcanic activity (which usually leave craters). Geologists deny that a big island existed 12,000 years ago in the Mid Atlantic Ridge. They proved it’s physically impossible and during ‘70s people seeking for Atlantis under the Azores were undeceived. The only natural changing since 12,000 years ago involved the raising of the sea levels which reduced the dimensions of the Azores, which were anyway small islands even in those times. There have been also people saying that once Atlantis was a large island which included the Caribbean islands, the Azores, Canary Islands and Capo Verde together. In such a sentence the problem is quite evident. In fact, among all these islands, there is just the abyss, where the oceanic floor is several miles deep. If they were once a unique land mass where did all that mass vanquish? The oceanic floors laying between these islands are fairly regular, and they don’t show any clue of huge catastrophe; instead they still show the ancient clues of their origin which was simultaneous to the drift of continents. Canary islands and Azores are just isolated tops of submarine mountains and they have been encircled by waters for a long time. A refined civilization like Atlantis could have hardly prospered in such areas since the middle of the ridge is continuously struck by earthquakes and volcanic activity. Then we mustn’t forget that Atlantis was a hailing island under all meanings. Looking at the natural resources of Iceland, which is placed in the northern side of the ridge, we can verify if such area has all sort of resources mentioned by Plato.

 Then, how can we explain all the common features between the civilizations of the new and old world? That’s not a problem. The fact they sometimes show the same cultural features  doesn’t necessarily imply the physical existence of a civilization geographically placed between them. We can easily think they had some relationship or that a kind colonized the other. We can demonstrate that thinking at the presence of tobacco and coca in the Egyptian mummies. We don’t need, then, to put a civilization in the middle of Atlantic to explain such facts. Actually no one knows the correct reason of these facts, but we must only notice that the hypothetic Mid Atlantic island (denied by geological arguments) isn’t the only likely solution. There are some other gateways. At the same time the presence of some prehistoric ruins in the coasts of Canary islands or Bahamas doesn’t imply Atlantis prospered necessarily there. Notice that some kind of ruins have been found all around the globe: Japan, India, North Sea and in the littoral of the Andes. Must we conclude Atlantis was in each of these places? We must even think at all the potential colonies Atlantis founded, independently on its fatherland.  

 Anyway the geographical description given by Plato leaves no doubts that “Atlantis was in front of Gibraltar and that together with some other islands worked as bridge reaching the opposite continent, which encircled the ocean”. The most interesting fact is that Plato wasn’t wrong. Are we wrong since we say that Atlantis wasn’t either in the Mid Atlantic or in the Caribbean sea? Not at all.

To tell the truth all is correct and can be verified. Plato, when speaks about the “Atlantic” or “outer” ocean beyond the Pillars of Heracles, doesn’t strictly point out what we, nowadays, call conventionally Atlantic Ocean, but just means the huge extension of water West of Spain. This extension, we know, is just one, since the three oceans of the world communicate each other. Atlantis was in the middle of this unique extension. So we mustn’t search for Atlantis in the only actual Atlantic Ocean, since our idea of Atlantic Ocean didn’t mean anything during Plato’s age. The large island before Gibraltar, in Plato’s Atlantic, is necessarily the South America, encircled on the East side by our Atlantic and on the west by our Pacific, in other words by that “outer” sea which pointed out all the extension of water beyond Spain. The opposite continent encircling the sea can be identified with the huge  Afro – Asian plate, which encloses entirely the Indian and Pacific oceans which consist of a unique mirror of water together with the Atlantic. So Atlantis is really in that “Atlantic” pointed out by Plato except the fact it didn’t sink.