THE MYSTIC OF BEACHROCK

Beachrock was the interface of a lively controversy between geologists and mystics.

While geologists pondered the origin and distribution of beachrock, mystics viewed one of the occurrences in a quite different way. Off the Island of Bimini on the eastern margin of Great Bahama Bank, a linear series of rectangular slabs of limestone in water depths of 5-7 m were interpreted as the submerged remnants of a road, part of the fabled city of Atlantis. This audacious interpretation attracted an enthusiastic following of believers from the world's community of alternative thinkers.

Geologic analysis of the limestone showed that the laminated structure is the same as that found on beaches , in other words - beachrock. The rectangular blocks are a natural result of the weakness of a thin slab floating on unconsolidated sand, like the fracturing of ice on a pond.