Geological Evidence Coinciding with
The Biblical Flood of Noah
Written by Heather Braley
Spring Semester, 2008
Biology 112-701
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And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark,
and it was lift up above the earth.
And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon
the face of the waters.
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills that were under
the whole heaven were covered.
Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, and every man:
All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
Excerpt from the Bible, King James Version
Genesis 7:17-221
The story of flood is prevalent in many cultures around the world. The story of Noah and the
corresponding flood occurs in the religious texts of Christianity as well as Judaism and Islam. In
the Christian version, as well as many others, the basic premise of the story is the same: The
deity in charge sees that the people inhabiting the world have become wicked, so in an effort to
cleanse the world of said wickedness, a flood is sent. In each of these stories, a main character
such as Noah, who is in the good graces of the deity, is forewarned of the impending flood, and
instructed to save a select few individual humans in addition to two of every species on the earth.
Plans for re-inhabiting the earth have been laid. Once the flood had ended Noah, and whatever
1
The Bible, King James Version, Bible Gateway. Com http://www.bible
gateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&chapter=7&version=9 (accessed March 18, 2008)
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species of plants and animals are allowed to start fresh in a cleansed world with a promise from
god himself that things will never be that bad again.
As with many religious myths the story of the flood has been met with much skepticism. Critics
argue that there is not possible for a flood the magnitude of the one described to have happened
so suddenly, with as much rain and water accumulation. Believers who study these religious
texts have commonly held that the story is true, but have little other than their faith with which to
substantiate these claims.
Recently, after centuries of pondering the validity of flood legends, geologists have uncovered
much evidence corresponding to a flood event which took place in times thought to be close to
those of Noah. Taking place in the Black Sea region, where Noah is presumed to have lived,
was a flood of such magnitude that it is plausible to assume that the flood which occurs in
religious texts is the very same flood that can be proven with modern geological techniques.
Although the truth of this story has often come into question, modern geologists have discovered
evidence which may prove the story to not be a fabrication at all. By employing techniques such
as ice core sampling, oxygen isotope dating and observation of fossils in marine sediment core
samples scientists have been able to substantiate the claims of a flood of magnitude similar to the
flood described in the bible.
Geologists have gathered information about temperature on prehistoric earth was like throughout
the past hundreds of thousands of years with the assistance of ice core samples.2 Temperature is
determined from these ice core samples by analyzing the ratio of oxgen-18 isotopes in
comparison to the lighter, oxygen-16 isotopes. By analyzing the oxygen isotope ratio of various
temperatures of water it has been determined that the heavier, oxygen-18 isotope becomes more
prevalent as the temperature of water decreases. Paleoclimate scientists using this information
2
National Science Foundation, “Timeline” U.S. National Ice Core Laboratory. http://nicl.gov/index.html.
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have been able to reconstruct timelines of the climate on Earth spanning as far back as 400,000
years ago.3
It is believed that the legends of biblical flood originated sometime between 8,000 and 7,000
years ago. The earth, in this timeframe, was undergoing some major geological changes.
Beginning at a time near 1.8 million years ago was a geological time period known as the
Pleistocene Epoch. This period was a time of world wide glaciations, also referred to as an ice
age, when glaciers covered much of the continents from the poles to the temporal zones.4
The Pleistocene Epoch lasted until approximately 11 million years ago, at which point the earth
entered into its current geological period, known as the Holocene Epoch. The Holocene Epoch
was characterized in the onset with a warming of the earth to temperatures slightly higher than
temperatures common in present day. Near 9,500 years ago there was a time period in which the
temperatures rose by about 10 degrees Celsius within a decade, and remained unusually warm
for close to 1,500 years.5
With the warming climate, the glaciers which once cloaked much of
the earth began to recede. As the glaciers melted the earth was saturated with excess water,
enough to raise the level of oceans by 30 meters. The melting in the onset of the Holocene
Epoch created a drainage system in the form of rivers, whose existence persists, in order to dispel
water melting off of these colossal glaciers.6
NASA Earth Observations, “Paleoclimatology: the Oxygen Balance” earth observatory.
http://eobglossary.gsfc.nasa.gov/
4
The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition “Pleistocene Epoch” pg. 38360. Columbia University Press (New York)
2007
5
Michael Schulz and Andre Paul, “Holocene Climate Variability on Centennial-to-Millennial Time scales: 1.
Climate Records from the North-Atlantic Realm” University of Bremen Department of Geosciences, Kiel, Germany
http://wwwgeo.uni-bremen.de/geomod/staff/mschulz//reprint/hanse2002_schulz_paul.pdf. (accessed March 20,
2008)
6
The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition “Holocene Epoch” ibid pg. 22564
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An impact was made on the scientific community by the extensive climate records and all they
implied. Oceans filled rapidly during the glacial retreat period following the last ice age on
earth. This created new theories about the earth during this time frame.
In 1996 marine geologists from Columbia University, William B.F. Ryan and Walter C. Pitman
III developed a theoretical explanation, linking these rising oceanic levels with the flood
described in the Bible.7 Basing their theory on then newly developed paleoclimatic records,
Pitman and Ryan developed a hypothesis: as the level of water in the oceans of the world rose
significantly with newly introduced glacial run off waters, a portion of this excess water was
pushed into preexisting inland water bodies. In the case of the biblical flood, the story of which
is presumed to have originated near the Black Sea in what was once ancient Mesopotamia, water
would have traveled inland from the Atlantic Ocean by means of the Mediterranean Sea. Once
swelling the banks of the Mediterranean, this water burst into the Sea of Marmora by way of a
canal formed from the Aegean Sea. The Black Sea was temporarily protected from this
onslaught of water by a land formation near what is now the Bosporus Strait. Eventually the
volume of water became large enough to push through the Bosporus Strait into what was then the
freshwater lake now known as the Black Sea, creating a saline water body from what had once
been freshwater (See image 1). Ryan and Pitman think that water entered the Black Sea area in
the form of a temporary waterfall, the force of which being 200 times greater than that of
Niagara Falls. Entering at this rate of flow, the water would have caused the level of the black
sea to rise six inches in one day. Over the course of a year the flood waters caused the Black Sea
to grow by 60,000 square miles.8
Suzanne Trimel“Discovery of Human Artifacts below Surface of Black Sea Backs Theory by Columbia University
Faculty of Ancient Flood” Earth Institute News Archive, September 13, 2000.
http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/news/story9_1.html. (accessed March 31, 2008)
8
Suzanne Trimel ibid.
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(Image 1)9
9
Ruddiman, W.F., Earth’s Climate: Past and Future. Freeman & Sons (New York) 2001.
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The flood Hypothesis of Pitman and Ryan has been supported by both sonar imagery and marine
core samples from the Black Sea region. Inspired by the Black Sea flood hypothesis, marine
explorer Bob Ballard led an expedition to the Black Sea in 1999 hoping to find evidence which
would support these ideas. Using sonar imagery Ballard’s team was able to observe what
seemed to be the smooth, underwater, plains of land around the sea perimeter, seeming to lead to
what was once the shoreline of an ancient lake. The center of the Sea was choppy, much like
that of a lake bed, and showed a formation consistent with that of a lake bed as well.10 On
previous expeditions these submerged formations were also observed by Ryan and Pitman, who
took samples of the gravel which made up what appeared to be the ancient beaches, now
submerged by the Black Sea. The gravel was composed of fossilized, freshwater mollusks.
Once analyzed, tests read that the water content in the shells of these mollusks was quite low.
Scientists were able to conclude that freshwater mollusks, Monodacna caspia, had at one time
lived near what was then the shoreline of a freshwater lake, and were out in the sun long enough
to dry out before becoming the crushed gravel of a lakeside beach before being covered with salt
water.11
While conducting further sonar research on the now submerged beaches of the former Black Sea
Lake, under a layer of clay and gravel a once vegetative area was discovered. This area, while
closer to the present day shoreline than that of the suspected former shoreline, was still
underwater at a depth of 140 meters below the surface of the water. Carbon 14 dating of samples
from the fossilized roots of both large trees and smaller, leafy plants reveled that they were
Jacqueline S. Mitchell, “The Truth Behind Noah’s Flood” Beneath the Sea, PBS.
http://www.pbs.org/saf/1207/features/noah.htm. (accessed March 31, 2008)
11
William B. F Ryan, Walter C. Pitman III and Candace O. Major, “An abrupt drowning of the Black Sea Shelf”
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. http://oceanridge.ldeo.columbia.edu/blackseashelf/black seatext.html. (accessed March 2, 2008)
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10,000 to 14,000 years old.12 This is evidence that there was a tree line around the former Black
Sea, and that the water body was much smaller at the time.
Marine core samples taken from the Black Sea have further supported the story of seawater
flooding this once freshwater region. From the furthest depth of the samples, 215cm, the
freshwater mollusk Dreissena rostriformis was found. While this species is still in existence in
present times, carbon 14 dating of the Black Sea specimen reveled that it dated back to 14,700
years ago.13 These freshwater mollusks were found at shallower locations in the core samples as
well, with the youngest example being approximately 10,000 years old. Monodacna caspia, the
same species of freshwater mollusk which comprised the gravel of a submerged beach was also
present in the core sample. The sample provided information which placed the age of these lake
mollusk fossils at nearly 7,220 years old. Between 7,400 and 7,100 a new species appears in the
core samples, while all freshwater species dissipate. The species Cardium edule, more
commonly known as a cockle, seemed to arrive suddenly in the fossil record just as the other
species ceased to flourish, as they once had in the Black Sea Lake of ancient times. This bivalve
species is strictly salt water inhabiting, and first made an appearance in the Black Sea near the
time when the proposed, epic flood took place. The arrival of the cockle substantiates theories
that the once freshwater lake had been infiltrated with an enormous amount of salt water from
the Mediterranean.
Inspired by the marine core sample evidence which supported the freshwater lake theory of preflood Black Sea areas, Bob Ballard led another expedition to the region in 2000. Equipped with
a fleet of small ships Ballard utilized a remote operated vehicle (ROV) which was designed by
William B. F Ryan, Walter C. Pitman III and Candace O. Major, “An abrupt drowning of the Black Sea Shelf”
ibid.
13
William B. F Ryan, Walter C. Pitman III and Candace O. Major, “An abrupt drowning of the Black Sea Shelf”
ibid.
12
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scientists especially for researching the frigid bottom of the Black Sea. Using this ROV device
researchers were able to transmit recordable images from the bottom of the sea to monitors
aboard the ships. While searching near the former mouths of rivers which had once been
tributaries of the ancient Black Sea Lake, the ROV transmitted precisely the images researchers
had hoped to discover. From a depth of about 95 meters below the sea’s surface the ROV had
uncovered the remains of an ancient settlement. Strewn about the floor of the sea were
fragments of earthen pots and tools made of stone. Remnants of a dwelling area were also
discovered, and as a consequence of the cold, Oxygen starved waters, these artifacts were in an
especially well preserved. This settlement is evidence that there was once a community which
lived on the shores of a much smaller water body than the Black Sea of present times.14
These settlements show that the former residents of this area were well established, with
permanent structures, suggesting that more was destroyed than originally imagined based on
biblical accounts. The ancient people of Mesopotamia were in the process of transitioning from
a hunting and gathering group to an agricultural group. The settlements found were on stone
foundations, this is a clue that these persons had intentions of staying in one place for some time,
a habit most typical of agricultural societies. The living conditions of the Mesopotamian people
in the time of the flood contribute greatly to the subsequent story of Noah. Had these original
tellers of the flood tale still been nomadic, they may have simply left for higher ground once the
water levels of the lake began to rise. Because of their established settlements, including
extensive farmlands, the inhabitants would have been reluctant to leave right away. It is likely
that this hesitation caused more casualties than otherwise would have occurred.
With any story of folklore or religious mythology there is always the risk of facts being
exaggerated. As the tale is passed orally, rewritten, or translated from one generation or
14
Jacqueline S. Mitchell, “The Truth Behind Noah’s Flood” ibid.
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population to the next, small items may get changed or inflated, possibly in order to keep the
story interesting enough to stay alive. Eventually the story becomes so altered that it seems to be
a fanciful work of fiction rather than possibly being an accurate account of a historical event. In
the case of the biblical flood story, items may have been added or even altered in order to suit the
belief system of those who were keeping the story alive.
There is a piece of evidence which leads me personally to believe that accounts of flood have a
basis in reality beyond the scope of just being a fable. Witnesses to the flood had the ability to
create a written account of the events which transpired. Artifacts found near where the Danube
drains into the Black Sea are decorated with designs that very much resemble symbolic writing.
None of these symbols have been deciphered by linguists, due to their age it is unlikely that they
ever will, but in the post-flood era, there may have been individuals who could read first hand
accounts of the flood. This archeological find has been carbon dated as being from 8,000 to
6,500 years ago.15 I feel it probable that the best witnesses to this flood would have been near
where these records were located, across the sea from the colossal water fall where they may
have been less affected by the event.
As often the case in mythology, an explanation for an unexplained event leads to the will of the
Gods. The ancient people of Mesopotamia had no way of knowing that the ice age was coming
to an end, melting the glacial components of the polar ice caps, or that these events would lead to
the rising of sea levels to catastrophic proportions. When the seas began to rise, and especially
when the flood water broke through the Bosporus Strait, the immediate response of those who
witnessed it would have been to think that they had somehow enraged God, and this was their
punishment.
Omniglot writing systems & languages of the world, “Old European / Vinca / Danube script”
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/vinca.htm. (accessed April 2, 2008)
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The accounts of the flood I believe, based on the evidence discovered, have some truthful basis.
The wall of water that came crashing down into the lake from the Bosporus Strait would have
appeared to be the wrath of God to those seeking an explanation. If the water came with a force
200 times greater than the water rushing over Niagara Falls, as described by Pitman and Ryan, I
feel that the accounts in the bible are actually a huge understatement. The story in the bible also
describes rain that lasted for many days and nights. I believe this account is quite feasible based
on a combination of research. According to the ice core Climatology record, the temperatures
were unusually high leading into the flood. With a combination of these high temperatures and
an abundance of water from the melting glaciers I feel it would be possible for the evaporation
rate to be higher than normal, resulting in excess precipitation. The weather, at the very least
would have been very humid, but more likely it would have been raining immensely.
Over all I am personally shocked at all that the physical evidence implies in terms of actual proof
that a flood the magnitude of the one in the Bible actually took place. I have always regarded the
bible as a book of fables intended to teach proper code of conduct. I rarely look to the bible as a
historical reference. The most compelling proof for me had previously been the high occurrence
of similar flood stories throughout many cultures. I had planned on mentioning some or all of
these flood legends in this paper, and offer it as some sort of ancient collaboration, a possible
hypothesis accompanying it would have been along the lines that; the people who survived the
flood migrated into many separate locations, and in the formation of various subsequent
societies, the flood story evolved along many different lines. I eventually decided that this was
more of an archeological prospective, and decided to stick to mainly geological facts, yet my
curiosity got the better of me and I looked into the matter a little further. I was more than
surprised to find hundreds of flood legends from around the globe. Many had the same bases as
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the story of Noah, some from common regions even retained Noah as a character, yet Noah did
not always survive the flood. I thought that these common stories were supportive to my
hypothesis, as well as the folklore from neighboring regions where the story of flood is
synonymous with the cultures creation myths. I figured that if the culture was created in the
wake of a great flood, it was likely that these people were survivors of the Black Sea flood, and
started over, or “created” their civilization elsewhere. Most interesting to me were the legends of
flood I found from other civilizations, from everywhere around the globe. Because I find it
difficult to imagine that all people are descendants of the clan of Noah, I instead developed a
new explanation as to the commonalities in flood stories. I realized that the melting of glaciers
was a global event, and it would be foolish to assume that all of the water from this grand scaled
melting flowed to Noah’s doorstep. Water levels rose dramatically for everyone inhabiting earth
at the time, and it would have caused change significant enough to tell about it around the hearth
for many years.
I would like to mention that I am in no way attempting to discredit any religious text by
interpreting the geologic record. I am not the one to decide that global warming and not God
caused the floods of earth. For all I know God created global warming, and science, too.
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References
Bible, The King James Version, Bible Gateway. Com http://www.bible
gateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&chapter=7&version=9 (accessed March 18, 2008)
NASA Earth Observations, “Paleoclimatology: the Oxygen Balance” earth observatory.
http://eobglossary.gsfc.nasa.gov/
National Science Foundation, “Timeline” U.S. National Ice Core Laboratory. http://nicl.gov/index.html
Omniglot writing systems & languages of the world, “Old European / Vinca / Danube script”
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/vinca.htm. (accessed April 2, 2008)
Ruddiman, W.F., Earth’s Climate: Past and Future. Freeman & Sons (New York) 2001.
Jacqueline S. Mitchell, “The Truth Behind Noah’s Flood” Beneath the Sea, PBS.
http://www.pbs.org/saf/1207/features/noah.htm. (accessed March 31, 2008)
Ryan, William B. F, Pitman, Walter C. III and O. Major, Candace, “An abrupt drowning of the Black Sea
Shelf” Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. http://oceanridge.ldeo.columbia.edu/blackseashelf/black seatext.html. (accessed March 2, 2008)
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Schulz, Michael and Paul, Andre “Holocene Climate Variability on Centennial-to-Millennial Time scales:
1. Climate Records from the North-Atlantic Realm” University of Bremen Department of
Geosciences, Kiel, Germany http://wwwgeo.unibremen.de/geomod/staff/mschulz//reprint/hanse2002_schulz_paul.pdf. (accessed March 20,
2008)
Trimel, Suzanne “Discovery of Human Artifacts below Surface of Black Sea Backs Theory by Columbia
University Faculty of Ancient Flood” Earth Institute News Archive, September 13, 2000.
http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/news/story9_1.html. (accessed March 31, 2008)
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