Mystery Behind Underwater Greek Ruins Couls Actually Be A Geological Phenomenon

Previously, a group of divers discovered something unusual while taking a dip near the island of Zakynthos, Greece. There were mounds of ruins underwater and it was initially thought that these must be the remains of an ancient Greek city. However, a team of researchers has now come up with a theory that these could actually be a result of naturally-occurring geological phenomenon.

According to a team of archaeologists with the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities of Greece, an assessment of the site possessing the ruins indicates that the remains could actually be a result of the natural phenomenon that took place about 5 million years ago in the Pliocene epoch.

The assessment conducted by the archaeologists did not find even a single clue of civilization from the underwater site. The initial assessment results triggered the Greek ministry to include a team of researchers from the University of Athens and the University of East Anglia.

The team members used different techniques, including X-ray, microscopy and chemical analysis to figure out the nature of the content of these formations beneath water. The team revealed that the material resulting in these formations underwater is actually the remains of a natural plumbing system present below the seafloor.

The doughnut-shaped concrete formation is thus believed to be a result of a subsurface fault. The fault might not have completely ruptured the surface of the seafloor and also allowed gases, including methane and other material to escape from the depth of the seafloor.

The researchers say that the discovery of such a formation in shallow water is itself a rare occurrence. Usually, such formations are found hundreds or thousands of meters deep in the water. A similar phenomenon has also been observed in the North Sea. According to the researchers, this is similar to the effects of fracking, when humans speed up the phenomenon.