Google Earth Community: Megaflood 'made Island Britain'

Megaflood 'made Island Britain'

Britain became separated from mainland Europe after a catastrophic flood some time before 200,000 years ago, a sonar study of the English Channel confirms.

The images reveal deep scars on the Channel bed that must have been cut by a sudden, massive discharge of water.

Scientists tell the journal Nature that the torrent probably came from a giant lake in what is now the North Sea.

Some event - perhaps an earthquake - caused the lake's rim to breach at the Dover Strait, they believe.

Dr Sanjeev Gupta, from Imperial College London, and colleagues say the discharge was one of the most significant megafloods in recent Earth history, and provides an explanation for Britain's island status.

"This event or series of events that caused [the breach] changed the course of Britain's history," Dr Gupta told BBC News.

"It made it an island separated from continental Europe. It happened at the White Cliffs of Dover - so symbolic for Britain's identity - and it was the creation of those White Cliffs that actually made Island Britain." rest of article

Some event, or combination of events, resulted in a huge lake breaching the chalk ridge between what is now Dover and Calais. Scars from the torrent are still evident in sonar images of the Channel floor today, presented (above) as a processed 3D perspective view

Edited by danescombe (07/18/07 10:47 AM)

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