Could a tsunami have once hit New York?
by Jane Fazackarley
May 04, 2009
Scientists are suggesting that a tsunami may have hit the city of New York some 2,300 years ago. Whatever caused the enormous wave, it is said to have spread sediment across Long Island and New Jersey.
The possibility of a tsunami hitting the area is currently being looked into by scientists. Radiocarbon dates need to be checked before other causes of the damage can be ruled out completely.
Sediments found deposited across New York and New Jersey in as many as twenty locations suggest that a strong force hit the Northeast of the coastal area back in 300BC.
There is a chance that it could have been a violent storm but the evidence that has so far been gathered is suggesting that a tsunami may have occurred under the Atlantic Ocean.
A scientist from Vanderbilt University has said that gravel, fossils and over deposits discovered in the sediment in the region can be dated back 2,300 years.
The scientist, Steven Goodbred says that the size and the way that the deposits were distributed mean it would have needed a powerful wave and a forceful current to have shifted it. The force from a storm would not be enough.
Dr Goodbred said:
"If we're wrong, it was one heck of a storm,"
What might have caused the tsunami is another cause for debate. Some have suggested that a landslide from underneath the sea could have caused it. Another research group think an asteroid could have triggered it.
If this were to have happened in recent years would have left the world-famous Wall Street full of water from the sea and the Long Island Expressway would have suffered the same fate.
Dr Steven Goodbred said: "We're building a case of circumstantial evidence that is getting harder and harder to ignore,"
Sediments found deposited across New York and New Jersey in as many as twenty locations suggest that a strong force hit the Northeast of the coastal area back in 300BC.
There is a chance that it could have been a violent storm but the evidence that has so far been gathered is suggesting that a tsunami may have occurred under the Atlantic Ocean.
A scientist from Vanderbilt University has said that gravel, fossils and over deposits discovered in the sediment in the region can be dated back 2,300 years.
The scientist, Steven Goodbred says that the size and the way that the deposits were distributed mean it would have needed a powerful wave and a forceful current to have shifted it. The force from a storm would not be enough.
Dr Goodbred said:
"If we're wrong, it was one heck of a storm,"
What might have caused the tsunami is another cause for debate. Some have suggested that a landslide from underneath the sea could have caused it. Another research group think an asteroid could have triggered it.
If this were to have happened in recent years would have left the world-famous Wall Street full of water from the sea and the Long Island Expressway would have suffered the same fate.
Dr Steven Goodbred said: "We're building a case of circumstantial evidence that is getting harder and harder to ignore,"
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8028949.stm
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