Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Saturday July 18 2020, @12:07PM   Printer-friendly

Ancient DNA from Doggerland separates the U.K. from Europe:

Thousands of years ago the UK was physically joined to the rest of Europe through an area known as Doggerland. However, a marine inundation took place during the mid-holocene, separating the British landmass from the rest of Europe, which is now covered by the North Sea.

Scientists from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Warwick have studied sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) from sediment deposits in the southern North Sea, an area which has not previously been linked to a tsunami that occurred 8150 years ago.

[...] Professor Vince Gaffney from the School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences at the University of Bradford said, "Exploring Doggerland, the lost landscape underneath the North Sea, is one of the last great archaeological challenges in Europe. This work demonstrates that an interdisciplinary team of archaeologists and scientists can bring this landscape back to life and even throw new light on one of prehistory's great natural disasters, the Storegga Tsunami.

"The events leading up to the Storegga tsunami have many similarities to those of today. Climate is changing and this impacts on many aspects of society, especially in coastal locations."

The sedaDNA technique could help predict the effects of rising sea levels on coastal environments.

Journal Reference:
Gaffney, Vincent, Fitch, Simon, Bates, Martin, et al. Multi-Proxy Characterisation of the Storegga Tsunami and Its Impact on the Early Holocene Landscapes of the Southern North Sea, Geosciences (DOI: 10.3390/geosciences10070270)


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 18 2020, @06:02PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 18 2020, @06:02PM (#1023438)

    Euros are unaware of a lot of things, but this surprises me. Just look around - see Sponge Bob?