Digging Up Disaster

Overheard at National Geographic

National Geographic

Science, Society & Culture

4.5 • 10.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2019

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How did an ancient Roman harbor end up in ruins? Scientists realized the culprit was a long-forgotten natural disaster that left tell-tale geological clues -- and possibly an eyewitness account in an ancient religious text. But solving this mystery led to a bigger question: what if it happens again? For more information on this episode visit nationalgeographic.com/overheard Want more? Learn about the science of tsunamis -- including why Indonesia may be due for another big one. Could earthquakes explain some biblical stories? Scientists matched a tale of "fire and brimstone" with geological records of Israel's seismic history. A surprise tsunami in 2018 was far worse than early-warning systems expected. Here's what we're learning about different types of earthquakes. Also explore: A forgotten, 600-year-old tsunami explains the rise of a powerful Islamic kingdom. More about Beverly Goodman and her work at the Charney School of Marine Sciences. And want to learn more about the Talmud? Henry Abramson helps teach it, one page a day. Scientists didn't know an area in Mexico was prone to big earthquakes - until they factored in centuries-old Aztec records. If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Once upon a time, there was a budding archaeologist in some old, old ruins.
0:05.7	The archaeologist is named Beverly Goodman, and the ruins are a city called
0:09.6	Cesarea on the coast of Israel.
0:11.6	So Cesarea today, when you go there, the majority of the harbor is now
0:15.6	underwater. And then as you go off into the deeper part of the harbor,
0:19.6	you need to go there with scuba gear in order to see it.
0:22.9	20 years ago, Beverly was a grad student in her 20s.
0:26.5	She was on a team diving in the Mediterranean Sea.
0:29.8	Asking pretty standard questions about the harbor at Cesarea.
0:33.3	Basically, what happened here?
0:35.5	The harbor definitely had signs of deterioration about 100 years after it was
0:42.9	built. But the issue was why?
0:46.3	Why did the harbor sink into the sea?
0:49.2	Some archaeologists spend their entire careers asking questions like that and
0:53.2	never find an answer, not Beverly.
0:56.0	There is a picture where I'm excavating through this.
0:59.8	And I'm looking at the camera with the like, oh my gosh.
1:05.6	And of course, I'm working with my supervisor and he's going, this could be it.
1:10.4	This could be it.
1:11.4	And, you know, I just remember staring at this section and thinking, wow,
1:17.1	you know, this is what we were really looking for.
1:22.6	What Beverly found didn't just change what archaeologists know about this
	...

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