http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ mirrored file For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== * Home Oldie but Goodie: The 2350 BC Middle East Anomaly Evidenced By Micro-debris Fallout, Surface Combustion And Soil Explosion Abstract of talk by Marie-Agnès Courty CNRS-CM. Lab. de Science des Sols et Hydrologic, INA P-G, 78850 Grignon, France. email: fedoroff[at]diamant.jouy.inra.dr Presented at the SIS Conference: Natural Catastrophes during Bronze Age Civilisations (11th-13th July 1997) Further investigations allow to re-examine the nature, age, causes and effects of the third millennium catastrophe identified from our earlier findings. Test on various late Gird millennium BC archaeological deposit and contemporaneous provides evidence for the regional occurrence in northern Syria of a layer with an uncommon petrographic assemblage, dated at ca. 2350 BC (transition between late Early Dynastic and Early Akkad). It consists of fine send-sized, well sorted spherules of various composition (silica, silicates and fibro-radiated calcite), millimetric fragments of a black, vesicular, amorphous material made of silicates with Mg-Ca carbonate and phosphate inclusions, ovoid micro-aggregates made of densely packed crystals (calcite, gypsum or feldspars) and exogenous angular fragments of a coarse crystallised igneous rock. All these particles are only present in this specific layer and are finely mixed with mud-brick debris or with a burnt surface horizon in the contemporaneous soils. In occupation sequences, the layer displays an uncommon dense packing of sand-sized, very porous aggregates that suggests disintegration of the mud-brick construction by an air blast. In the virgin soil, the burnt horizon contains black soot and graphite, and appears to have been instantaneously fossilised by a rapid and uncommon colluvial wash. Occurrence in a previously recorded thick tephra deposit of particles identical to some of the mysterious layer and resemblance of its original pseudo-sand fabric with t he exploded one of the mysterious layer confirms that the later is contemporaneous with the tephra deposit It has been however impossible to find typical tephra shards in sites located at a few km around the one with the tephra deposit The restricted occurrence of the later suggests that the massive tephra accumulation can no longer be considered as a typical fallout derived from the dispersion of material from a terrestrial volcanic explosion. Analytical investigations in various directions have been unable, so far, to refute or confirm that a cosmic event would have been the cause for production of both the widely distributed mysterious particles and the localised thick tephra. Origin of this mysterious phenomena still remains unsolved. The excellent stratigraphical correlation between sites that are distant of a few hundred km clearly shows that the instantaneous dust fallout, previously considered as the initiative mechanism to the ca. 2200 yr BC abrupt climate change, occurred more than one hundred years earlier. The loose soil fabric, originally correlated with effects of strong winds and rapid establishment of aridity, can now be re-interpreted and possibly assigned to a violent blow-up. The theory of the Akkad empire collapse has, however, lost its basis. Soil specialists, geochemists and archaeologists should join their effort to solve this problem, and debate the exact nature of the socio cultural echo to this extraordinary event Our study illustrates the exceptional potential of archaeological sites to offer well preserved sedimentary archives of instantaneous phenomena that have shacked past terrestrial environments. It also demonstrates the importance of a high temporal resolution for debating causality of natural catastrophe on societal phenomena. Soil-sedimentary markers are in a way less subjective than historical sources for providing such a precision, although their interpretation might also be controversial, particularly when facing lack of analogues from the past or the present. April 13th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized 5 comments to Oldie but Goodie: The 2350 BC Middle East Anomaly Evidenced By Micro-debris Fallout, Surface Combustion And Soil Explosion * Racheal April 14th, 2010 at 10:40 am I would like to find out if any one has related the YD to the tilt of the earth that has been cited as the cause for the green Sahara about the same time. I understand these events are on different sides of the earth but if they both happened it is still the same earth that tilted. Please reply as I have a passion to know. Thanks * Rod Chilton April 16th, 2010 at 11:29 am Hi Rachel: I will try and answer your question. First off, Yes the tilt of the Earth does have some influence upon climate. This is, as you probably know one of the three important cycles that our Earth undergoes in relation to the sun. The orbital tilt goes through an approximate 41,000 to 43,000 cycle with its tilt ranging from about 21.6 to 24.5 degrees. we are currently tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees. It is said that when the tilt is more sever (24.5 degrees) the climate in the Northern hemisphere is colder in winter at the mid to high latitudes. Conversely, when the tilt is at its least, the winters tend to be warmer. There may be some influence as well on the Sahara (But I don’t expect this is the prime reason for changes round about the time of the Younger Dryas. I have it by all accounts that yes the Sahara has been green periodically from the last ice age on into the Holocene (that began about 10,000 years ago). The specific times you are alluding to appeard to have the Sahara quite wet around 15,000 BP. This was within the mild Allerod Bolling interval, then accompanying the beginning of the Younger Dryas a shift in might well have been worldwide climate took place. This change was very sudden, likely in perhaps only one to three years. The climate generally became much colder and drier in the majority of locales. Coinciding with the cooling of the North Atlantic, the region that extends from southern Europe into Africa has a shift to much drier conditions. So you see that yes it was greener just after the last ice age, but became drier in the Younger dryas, but once again returned to mosr moist conditions shortly after the Younger Dryas ended. Hope this helps. Rod * E.P. Grondine April 21st, 2010 at 8:24 pm It is possible that the exact date for this event at Tel Leilan is the same that the Maya gave for the Rio Cuarto impacts: 25 October, 2,360 BCE. The entire population of Malta disappears from the face of the Earth at roughly this exact same time. If there was any wetting of the Sahara it would likely have been due to impact dust load cooling of the Earth, rather than the Earth being tilted by impact. * E.P. Grondine April 21st, 2010 at 8:28 pm If there was any wetting of the Sahara at 2,360 BCE it would likely have been from dust load cooling of the Earth, rather than the Earth being tilted by impact. The YD impacts appear to have caused a change in the circulation of the Earth’s oceans, which may have played a large role in the drying of the Sahara. * Rod Chilton April 22nd, 2010 at 1:44 pm Hi Ed: I think that yes the Tel Leilan event as detected by Marie Agnes Courty may well have taken place at the same time as Rio Cuarto. I will look into this further however. Also, the climate at this time actually became drier throughout much of Africa approximately 4500 BP. And this does seem to be the case when there are impacts events. Secondly the so called greening of the Sahara appears to coincide with times that are warmer as in the case of the Allerod and Bolling interstadials. thirdly, I do not believe that the relatively small impact events that we are speaking of here will have little if any significant influence upon the Earth’s orbit (in this case the tilt of the axis. We are not after all talking about ten Kilometre wide abjects striking the earth (as was the case 65 million years ago). Rather these events, including the one at the Younger Dryas, are in the form of what Bill Napier and Victor Clube describe as cosmic showers.