CompuServe Thread

The Flood: A Historical Reality? Whether there was something like the Flood or not, this topic has been discussed for centuries. The result has been that serious scientists reject a global flood as historical reality. Two Austrian geologists have taken up an older hypothesis to explain a global flood. Their names are Prof. DSc Alexander Tollmann, geologist, professor in ordinary and President of the University Institute of Vienna on the chair of Eduard Suess, and his wife, DSc Edith Kristan-Tollmann, geologist and university lecturer of micro-paleontology. Their hypothesis says that a comet hit on earth about 10 000 years ago and caused a catastrophe well known as the Flood. The basis of their hypothesis is the large number of floodstories all over the world and some few (circumstantial) evidences. Their starting point is the large number of parallels between the results of research impacts in earthhistory (especially of the impact at the end of the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago) and the flood records of many peoples world-wide. Particularly the native Amercians report on stars fallen down from the sky, but also in Northern Europe, in the Near East, Persia, India, Australia, and on the Pacific islands, myths about such an event exist. Most records contain descriptions of earthquakes, fire disasters, volcanism, tidal waves or tsunamis of incredible height, darkness, winter or s sudden drop in temperature after a while, heavy downpours or above-average snowfalls and the extinction of most human beings and animals. All these are significant details of an impact. Because some records say that three, seven or nine "stars" (or "dragons" or "snakes") fell down and hit the earth, and because of the world-wide spreading of flood traditions, the authors assume seven big or major impacts of seven major fragments of one comet in the Oceans and some smaller impacts world-wide. They suppose that the comet broke apart passing the Jupiter because of its gravitation (compare to Shoemaker – Levy 9) or the perihel (compare to comet "West"). On account of their interpretation of the floodstories they assume impacts southeastern of Australia in the Tasmanian Sea (or i the southwestern Pacific Ocean), in the southern Chinese Sea, in the Indian Ocean, in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the Middle Atlantic Ocean southern of the Azores, in the eastern Pacific Ocean before the west coast of Middle America and in the southeastern Pacific Ocean west of Fireland. They consider the Marasko Crater (Poland), the Koefels impact (Tyrol, Austria), the Odessa Crater (Texas) and maybe the Merewether Crater (Labrador) as impacts of smaller fragments; all these impacts dated back to about 10 000 years before present. Evidence of such a catastrophe 10 000 years ago are fields of tektites in South Australia from Port Campbell (near to Melbourne) to Charlotte Waters and in Vietnam. There is no evidence of the impacts in the Oceans yet. But the knowledge of impacts in the Oceans isn't very large so far. Another evidence of one or more big impacts 10 000 years ago is a high acidity in ice core series. Should the acid be nitric acid, this would be an evidence of an impact in that time. Results of dendrochronological researchs supply evidence for a sudden rise of carbon – 14 about 10 000 years ago, which may be reduced to an impact in that time. (The exact date of the Flood is fixed by the authors with 7553 BC +/- a few years.) – Jens Grabenstein – References: Baker, G: Tektites. – Mem. nat. Mus. Victoria, 23 (p.1-313), Melbourne, 1959. Becker, B., Kromer, B. et al.: A stable-isotope tree-ring timescale of the Late Glacial/Holocene boundary. – Nature, 353 (p.647-649), London, 1991. Gill, E.D.: Age of Australite Fall. – J. geophys. Res., 75 (p.996-1002), New Haven/Conn., 1970. Hammer, C.U., Clausen, H.B. et al.: Greenland ice sheet evidence of post-glacial volcanism and its climatic impact. – Nature, 288 (p.230-235), London 1980. Izokh, E.P.: Relationship between Austral-Asian Tektic Strew-Field and Zhamanshin Crater. – [in:] Ch. Koeberl et al. [ed.]: Abstr. 52nd. Ann. Meet. Meteorit. Soc. Vienna (p.96), Vienna (Geochem. Inst. Univ. Vienna), 1989. Izokh, E.P.: Age-Paradox and the Origin of Tektites. – [in:] J. Konta [ed.]: Sec. int. Conf. natural Glasses (p.379-384), Prague (Charles Univ.), 1987 Johnson, J.E.: Geological Factors in Tektite Distribution, Northwestern South Australia – Quart. geol. Notes geol. Survey South Australia, 14 (p.5-6), Eastwood, S. A., 1965. Prasad, M. Sh. and Rao, P.S.: Tektides far and wide. – Natur, 347 (p.340), London, 1990. Surenian, R.: Scanning electron microscope study of shock features in pumice and gneis from Koefels (Tyrol, Austria). – Geol. Palaont. Mitt. Innsbruck, 1988. Tien, Ph. Cn. [ed.]: Geology of Camodia, Laos and Vietnam, 2 (p.103), Hanoi (Geol. Surv. Vietnam), 1990. Tollmann, E. and A.: The Flood came at 3 o'clock in the morning… – Austria Today, 1992 (4), p.40-47, Vienna 1992. Tollmann, E. and A.: The Flood impact. – Mitt. osterr. geol. Ges., 84 / 1991, p.1-63, Wien 1992. Tollmann, E. und A.: Und die Sintflut gab es doch. – Droemersche Verlagsanstalt Th. Knaur Nachf. Munchen, 1993.