Has Google Ocean Uncovered Atlantis?

Is that the lost city of Atlantis? Whatever it is, this grid-like pattern of lines on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean is getting a lot of buzz these days — and it’s all made possible by the recently launched Google Ocean. According to the Telegraph, a 38-year-old aeronautical engineer recently spotted the pattern off […]

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Atlantis on Google Ocean?

Is that the lost city of Atlantis?

Whatever it is, this grid-like pattern of lines on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean is getting a lot of buzz these days — and it’s all made possible by the recently launched Google Ocean.

According to the Telegraph, a 38-year-old aeronautical engineer recently spotted the pattern off the coast of northwest Africa near the Canary Islands. The newspaper quotes archaeology experts who say it’s “one of the most prominent places for the proposed location of Atlantis.”

We’ve already covered Cool Sights In Google Street View, so if anyone is planning a similar article about cool sights seen in the new Google Ocean, your list begins here.

PostScript: PC World is running an article today in which Google says the image isn’t Atlantis, but just an artifact of the data collection process: “Bathymetric (or seafloor terrain) data is often collected from boats using sonar to take measurements of the seafloor. The lines reflect the path of the boat as it gathers the data.” (Thx @neyne.)

PostScript #2: Google has also joined in formally with a very scientific explanation on the Official Google Blog.


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About the author

Matt McGee
Contributor
Matt McGee joined Third Door Media as a writer/reporter/editor in September 2008. He served as Editor-In-Chief from January 2013 until his departure in July 2017. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee.

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