# Atlantis is Antartica? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 16, 2002, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617 "2002-03-16T14:20:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Illuvatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b38774/32.png) [@Illuvatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuvatar)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/1 "2002-03-16T14:20:34Z")
I just came across a website about a new book: When the Sky Fell - In search of Atlantis [http://www.flem-ath.com/](http://www.flem-ath.com/) The background/summary for the book is a really entertaining read. But can another source of fact back it up? Do we have Antartic Core Samples that can tell us about the weather patterns back then to verify what happened? Does anyone know of any facts that can verify its degree of truth? ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/2 "2002-03-16T19:22:19Z")
Well, since Atlantis is a myth fabricated by Plato, there’s really no need of scientific testing of any sort. [http://www.skepdic.com/atlantis.html](http://www.skepdic.com/atlantis.html) ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/3 "2002-03-16T19:47:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Illuvatar \* > \*\*I just came across a website about a new book: > > When the Sky Fell - In search of Atlantis > [http://www.flem-ath.com/](http://www.flem-ath.com/) > > The background/summary for the book is a really entertaining read. But can another source of fact back it up? Do we have Antartic Core Samples that can tell us about the weather patterns back then to verify what happened? Does anyone know of any facts that can verify its degree of truth? \*\* **Illuvitar** –Numenor, AKA Atalante, was drowned when the seas were bent. You should know that, of all people. As for Antarctica, everyone knows that it was the domain of the Great Old Ones. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/4 "2002-03-16T20:16:15Z")
This is going to be one of those topics for which we really regret losing the January threads. We went over this pretty thoroughly in **General Questions** a few weeks before the board crashed, including stories of ancient maps that revealed the “real” shoreline of Antarctica beneath the ice–which was countered by people who had actually seen the maps and noted that it took immense powers of imagination to try to hammer the maps and shorelines into even _similar_ shapes. We also had testimony and links showing that the ice preceded anything accountable by legend (and that in some cases it preceded humanity). (BTW, I’m having trouble getting to the link in the OP, so I have no direct comment on it other than to second **Uncle Beer** : Atlantis was a story invented to make a point, never a real place of any sort.) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/5 "2002-03-16T20:24:53Z")
OK. I got the link to work. I believe that the first part of the key to this mystery is that Flem came from an Arabic word that could just as easily have been rendered “Flim” as “Flem” and that Ath is an ancient Cthulic word meaning “Flam.” ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/6 "2002-03-16T20:26:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Illuvatar \* > \*\*I just came across a website about a new book: > > When the Sky Fell - In search of Atlantis > [http://www.flem-ath.com/](http://www.flem-ath.com/) > > The background/summary for the book is a really entertaining read. But can another source of fact back it up? Do we have Antartic Core Samples that can tell us about the weather patterns back then to verify what happened? Does anyone know of any facts that can verify its degree of truth? \*\* There’s no evidence that Atlantis was anything more then a fictional place Plato made up. Marc ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/7 "2002-03-16T20:31:32Z")
Well, I was able to view the site, and I am now convinced. Multi-coloured text and endorsements from both Colin Wilson and the Ottowa Citizen always add credibility to a claim. I suppose I will now have to scrap my theory that Atlantis was really on the site of Wichita, KS (the description of the capital city in Plato as revealed by Madame Blatavaski [no relation] matches the landforms under the soil of Kansas to an unsettling degree), and the “sinking” was when it “sank” over the Western horizon during the hydroplate episode… Why didn’t I ever think to turn maps upside down? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/8 "2002-03-16T22:53:42Z")
The ice sheet on Antarctica has been there for at least 100,000 years. We know that because we’ve dug ice cores and dated them. End of story. ---
**Author:** ![Illuvatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b38774/32.png) [@Illuvatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuvatar)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/9 "2002-03-17T01:34:35Z")
I’m not saying I believe the book/website. I am saying that it was an entertaining read and can someone please give some evidence to prove it right or wrong. > [@](#): > > The ice sheet on Antarctica has been there for at least 100,000 years. We know that because we’ve dug ice cores and dated them. End of story. Can I have a cite for this? Then it will be the end of the story, well it won’t be the end but at least it will be fictional. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/10 "2002-03-17T01:57:28Z")
Illuvatar, ya wanna know the truth about Atlantis? Check out your backyard. You see due to an overload of transneucleonic energy, Atlantis did indeed sink. Then, preserved by orgone generators, it drifted with the current. Eventually it dropped anchor. The memory of this in our collective unconscious is why Australia is often called “Down Under.”. The legendary Bunyip, were actually feral descendants of the Antlantean Shi Tzu. RE-The Great Old Ones Lovecraft had most of it right. They had no real civilization on this planet, though. Those stationed here served as caretakers and administrators for Garbage From The Outer Spheres. The Nazca lines translate as"This side glass only. Cardboard boxes must be cut up." ---
**Author:** ![Illuvatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b38774/32.png) [@Illuvatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuvatar)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/11 "2002-03-17T02:28:37Z")
**DocCathode** Don’t ridicule me! Your being blatently arrogant. :mad: I don’t believe in Atlantis BUT I THOUGHT THE WEBSITE WAS ENTER’FICKIN’TAINING!!! :mad: Now I’ll calm down and ask nicely: Someone please give me a cite for the age of the ice sheet. ---
**Author:** ![Ned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/848f3c/32.png) [@Ned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ned)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/12 "2002-03-17T02:37:24Z")
This is what google is for **Illuvatar**. There are numerous sites discussing the analysis of ice cores such as this one. [http://www.agu.org/sci\_soc/vostok.html](http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/vostok.html) On the other hand, if you are prepared to take atlantis site at all seriously you better look at this one too. [http://www.icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-226.htm](http://www.icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-226.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Illuvatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b38774/32.png) [@Illuvatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuvatar)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/13 "2002-03-17T03:02:02Z")
> [@](#): > > The chronology of the ice at Vostok has been established down to 2546 m, which is dated at 220,000 years before present. Thanks **Ned** this is exactly what I was looking for. I wondered why I got 3 crappy unrelated results from google… I spelt antarctica wrong. :rolleyes: Now I get to say it. **End of Story**. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/14 "2002-03-17T03:02:17Z")
Illuvatar said: > [@](#): > > I don’t believe in Atlantis BUT I THOUGHT THE WEBSITE WAS ENTER’FICKIN’TAINING!!! I’ve seen better. These bosons couldn’t hold a candle to Velikovsky(for instance), who has an aura of scholarship that is hard to match amongst the kook community. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/15 "2002-03-17T04:31:24Z")
Great. Two people beat me to the _At the Mountains of Madness_ reference. [Heston] Damn you! Damn you all to Yuggoth! [/Heston] ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/16 "2002-03-17T22:39:23Z")
Just for the record, Graham Hancock (of “I think the Sphinx was built by aliens 10,000 years ago” fame) **also** believes that Antarctica was Atlantis. He believed that Antarctica was in the Tropics until 12,500 years ago, when it **suddenly** shifted to its current location. He’s full of it, of course – the ice cores show no such discontinuity any time over the last 200,000+ years – but apparently he’s not alone in his full-of-it-ness. ---
**Author:** ![scotth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@scotth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/17 "2002-03-18T03:10:54Z")
And those same ice cores get you a two for one. They also unambiguously show that there has been no global flood in recent history. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/18 "2002-03-18T03:55:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scotth \* > \*\*And those same ice cores get you a two for one. They also unambiguously show that there has been no global flood in recent history. \*\* How exactly do they show this, anyway? (I forgot exactly how they measure things using ice cores, so I just thought I’d ask.) ---
**Author:** ![scotth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@scotth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/19 "2002-03-18T04:09:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Michael Ellis \* > \*\* > > How exactly do they show this, anyway? (I forgot exactly how they measure things using ice cores, so I just thought I’d ask.) \*\* The ice cores are made from annual snowfall that never melts and just compresses into ice as more snow is piled on top. These cores show layers quite similar to the growth rings in a tree. Snow tends to come in seasons, and each season lays down a stratum. They can count these layers back a long, long ways. Generally, they do some things to verify they are on track. For example, if you know there was a huge volcanic eruption in 845 AD, you count back some 1150 years and look for traces of ash. Things typically line up very well. The ice cores continue back much further than recorded history. Clearly, if the continent was somewhere else (presumably much warmer) this would not be the case. Also, completely submersing an older surface for most of a year would really make a mess somewhere in the stack. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617/20 "2002-03-18T07:36:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scotth \* > \*\* > The ice cores are made from annual snowfall that never melts and just compresses into ice as more snow is piled on top. > > These cores show layers quite similar to the growth rings in a tree. Snow tends to come in seasons, and each season lays down a stratum. They can count these layers back a long, long ways.\*\* Thanks, and please don’t mistake my scientific curiosity for doubt over the evidence presented by the ice cores. I just wondered how they worked, since I had forgotten. Ah, you know what I mean. I hope. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlantis-is-antartica/98617.md?page=2)