Secrets of the depths: 6 amazing underwater finds

The bottom of the World Ocean hides many secrets and mysteries. It's no joke, according to the most optimistic estimates, progress in studying the seabed of our planet is estimated at 5-6%. And for some reason it seems that the most interesting discoveries are just ahead. 

Real sailors and yachtsmen devote time not only to their favorite boat. We are all explorers at heart, attracted by the endless sea and the spirit of adventure. That is why many of us cannot remain indifferent to headlines about underwater searches for lost ancient ships with gold or new species of marine life.

And although we spend most of our time on the surface of the water, the dark depths attract us no less, and sometimes even more strongly, than the endless expanses of the sea and the distant shores of unexplored countries.

Anomaly of the Baltic Sea 

The Baltic Sea Anomaly is an unidentified underwater object that was discovered by pure chance in a sonar image by OceanX divers. There are still a lot of rumors circulating around the object and its nature, with varying degrees of plausibility. 

The history of the anomaly detection dates back to June 2011. Then the Swedish OceanX went to the Baltic Sea in search of an old sunken ship in the area between Sweden and Finland. Having returned from the search and having studied the materials received, OceanX specialists spoke about their unexpected find - a strange underwater object of a round shape. 

According to the company's specialists, the object had a diameter of about 60 meters and had “some indirect features” that allegedly indicated the anthropogenic origin of the object. A year later, in June 2012, OceanX sent another expedition, this time to take soil samples. The samples were given to Volker Brüchert, associate professor of geology at Stockholm University. 

The scientist’s answer was disappointing for fans of conspiracy theories, who saw in the blurred image an alien spaceship, traces of secret experiments of the shadow government, and sunken samples of experimental weapons. Bruchert gave a clear conclusion: the soil samples did contain traces of basalt rock, which is not typical for the bottom of the Baltic Sea, but this fact does not give any reason to believe that the object is of extraterrestrial or anthropogenic origin.

This answer, as usual, did not reassure interested people, and now, for more than 10 years, more and more new theories have been appearing about the real origin of the object. 

Underwater river of the Black Sea

In August 2010, an amazing discovery was made by scientists from the University of Leeds - a real underwater river was discovered at the bottom of the Black Sea. This phenomenon, although attracting much speculation, is an important and unique phenomenon in hydrology.

According to research, the underwater river originates from an area of particularly salty water and contains all the features characteristic of land-based rivers. The underwater river has its own course, banks, floodplains, waterfalls and even rapids. Such an object, if I may say so, has an important difference from an ordinary underwater current - an underwater river has a different composition of water. Due to the difference in composition, the density of water also differs. The water in the “river” has a higher density and also salinity.

The underwater system was formed about 7,500 years ago, when two-way movement of water at different depths appeared in the Bosphorus Strait. According to scientists, if such a river were on land, it would be the sixth largest river on the planet. 

Before the discovery of this underwater river, scientists assumed that such a phenomenon was possible. They drew this conclusion from the discovered channels off the coast of Brazil, where the Amazon flows into the Atlantic, but the composition of the water at depth was absolutely normal for that area. Questions were raised not so much by the presence of the canal as by the absence of something (in this case, an underwater river) that this canal could create.

The discovery of such a river in the Black Sea put everything in its place. The only reason why humanity discovered an active underwater river is that it was formed relatively recently. The river has a length of about 60 km and every second passes through its bed 22,000 cubic meters of water, which is 350 times more than the Thames and 10 times more than the Rhine. 

Sunken city of Heraklion

Sunken cities have firmly entered the folklore of many peoples of the world. But only some of them are discovered and confirmed by archaeological finds

The list of such “confirmed” finds includes the city of Heraklion or, as it is also called, Thonis or Fonida. It is an ancient city in Lower Egypt, located at the mouth of the Western Branch of the Nile. Heraklion was founded around 550-600 BC. and was an important trading point. The city was not very large, but very rich, since it was here that the most important port for Ancient Egypt was located. All plans for the development of the city were violated by Alexander the Great, who founded Alexandria in 331 BC.

Gradually, due to natural disasters, the city began to decline. Up to 101 BC Heraklion fell victim to earthquakes, sharp increases in water levels and even a small tsunami, which led to soil erosion. Gradually, the buildings of the city began to go under water, until, 900 years later, in the 8th century AD. the city did not completely disappear under water. 

Thanks to a thick layer of silt, sand and clay, the city remained untouched for almost 1,200 years. Before the discovery of the city in 2000, Thonis was known only as part of Greek legends and from a few miraculously preserved Egyptian sources.

It's funny that before the discovery of the city, most historians believed that Thonis and Heraklion were different cities. Archaeologist Frank Goddio dispelled this myth during excavations with the IEASM team. The excavations were carried out in several stages; the extraction of artifacts was also accompanied by a desalination process. During the excavations, 64 sea vessels were discovered - the largest burial of ancient ships, 14 thousand objects made of stone, wood and gold, a temple complex, and a dozen steles.  

Antikythera ship

Another ancient find comes from Greece. At the beginning of the 1st century BC. The Antikythera ship sank near the Greek island of Antikythera. For almost a thousand years, the ship rested on the bottom of the sea, until in 1900 it was discovered by a team of sponge divers. The ship rested at a depth of 60 meters. Elias Stadiatos, who discovered the ship, reported his discovery to the captain of the team, but he believed that Elias had been poisoned by carbon dioxide.

However, captain Dimitrios Kondos himself decided to take a look at the find and after some time returned to the team with the bronze hand of the statue. After this dive, the history of the scientific approach to the study of sunken ships and vessels began, which is still used today. Over the next two years, divers, together with the Ministry of Education and the Greek Navy, gradually recovered ancient artifacts from the bottom.

In the photo: the statue “Head of the Philosopher”, Antikythera ephebe, marble statue of Hercules of Antikythera.

On board the Antikythera ship there were many statues and objects made of bronze. Among the most famous statues are the “Head of the Philosopher”, the boy, the discus thrower, Hercules, the marble bull.

However, the main find was removed from the water only in May 1902. Then something was pulled out from the depths that occupied the minds of conspiracy theorists and scientists for many years. This “something” was the Antikythera mechanism. The mechanism was a mechanical device consisting of gears in a wooden case. As you understand, such a find could not but cause a stir.

In the photo: preserved fragments of the machine (left) and scientist Price's 1959 reconstruction of the mechanism (right).

Until 2021, scientists tried to recreate the mechanism and the principle of its operation. It was the staff of University College London who managed to decipher the operating principle of the Antikythera mechanism’s gear drive and create a working model. The mechanism turned out to be a mechanical calendar for astronomical and meteorological observations. This is probably one of the first examples of an analog computing device in history. The mechanism also combined the functionality of a planetarium and an astronomical clock.

Locomotive Cemetery

It was 1985 and charter boat captain Paul Helper was mapping the seabed five miles off Long Branch, New Jersey. For such a non-trivial activity, the skipper used a magnetometer. At some point, Paul became completely depressed after another multi-hour session of plotting depth data on the map. A sudden alarm brought the skipper back to reality and he clung to the magnetometer.

The device showed a sharp change in depth, which was not typical for this area. Without thinking twice, Paul decided to check everything himself - and dived under the water. The first dive was unsuccessful due to the turbidity of the water. The second attempt was a success and a bit of a shock. At a depth of almost 30 meters, from the darkness of the sea, several train locomotives peeked out at Paul, covered in sea life. The two trains stood vertically on the seabed and were the very anomaly that the magnetometer detected.

During subsequent dives, Helper recovered several artifacts and debris. The skipper took out whistles and bronze bells from the water. One of the whistles listed the train manufacturer, H. N. Hooper Company of Boston. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the locomotives were manufactured in South Boston between 1848 and 1855. An unexpected discovery was that the trains belonged to the rare Planet Class 2-2-2 model. These models were produced for a very short period and were discontinued as they became obsolete before they entered service.

Alas, it was never possible to find out why these trains ended up at the bottom of the sea, and even in a vertical position. Among the main theories are that the locomotives were transported on a ship that sank or that they were deliberately sunk by the owners. Adding to the questions is the fact that no papers have been preserved about the loss or even the production of these locomotives.

Stonehenge at the bottom of Lake Michigan

We all know about Stonehenge, an ancient stone structure located in Britain. However, did you know that there is a similar structure in the USA? And even at the bottom of Lake Michigan?

The incredible discovery was made by Dr. Mark Holley, a professor of underwater archeology at Northwestern Michigan University. He explored the scenic Grand Traverse Bay region, which has a rich trading history. Initially, the object of Mark's study was old sunken merchant ships, but an unusual find changed the direction of his work.

In the photo: Mark Holley shows off a stone with a mastodon image. To be fair, it is worth noting that other scientists did not see the outlines of ancient drawings in the stone.

At a depth of about 12 meters, Mark and a team of archaeologists discovered a stone with a prehistoric image of a mastodon, and very nearby stones reminiscent of Stonehenge. And although from a distance the scale of the structure initially seemed smaller than the British one, during further studies it turned out that the stones were placed on a section of the lake bottom 1.5 km long.

Detailed analysis showed that the stones are about 9,000 years old - that is, they are 4,000 years older than Stonehenge. During that period, the lake dried up after the next Ice Age, exposing the bottom. However, Mark Holley complains that people incorrectly assess the scale of the find. The scientist says: “It is important to be clear that this is not a megalith like Stonehenge. These are not large stones, but rather a man-made ridge of stones one nautical mile long.” 

In the photo: sonar imaging of an underwater object.

And although many (including us) called the stone “ridge” Stonehenge to attract attention, this in no way diminishes the significance of the find. Another scientist, Dr. John O'Shea from the University of Michigan, found a similar structure, but in Lake Huron. The exact purpose of the structures remains unknown. As with Stonehenge, the structure may have been used solely for ceremonial purposes. According to another version, the stones were used to protect places from wild animals. 

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27.07.2024