Sciacca Mystery the End pt.IV

After the euphoria, the joy, the satisfaction, I realized that four thousand years was too... little! Things didn’t quite match up! I decided to make one final attempt. I took another piece of coral from Sciacca, blackened and full of holes and sent it to CEDAD.
On the following page I submit the results of the tests.

7,000-7,500 years Before Christ! In other words, 9,000-9,500 years ago! For I needed to add the two thousand years from year zero – the year of the birth of Christ – to the present, give or take a year.
Now it made sense. In other words, something extraordinary had happened in the area of the volcanic system Empedocles over several millenniums.
Every underwater volcanic phenomenon, with its production of gas, magma, smoke, ashes, raises the temperature of the water even by as much as 1,000 degrees, as maintained by Prof. Gianni Lanzafame, whom I contacted regarding this.
These temperatures, of course, cause the instantaneous death of all forms of marine life in the area. Obviously even coral. The experiments carried out by Superchi and Bodnar indicated why the coral changed from red to orange and, especially, what happened to its chemical composition, profoundly transformed by the increase in iron, manganese, copper and uranium that caused it to lose the characteristics of organic material. Thus the reason it was preserved until now. In an area so profoundly affected by marine volcanic activity through centuries and centuries, imagine how many events there must have been.
Every time there was an eruption, the same phenomenon was repeated: the water in the sea became overheated and this, together with the substances spewed by the underwater volcanoes, modified the structure of the coral, transforming it from organic to inorganic. In other words – turning it to stone. All the coral in the area, and there was a considerable amounts these seas were rich in plankton, separated from the walls upon which it was growing and accumulated on the bottom, in the deepest areas, specifically the Graham Shoal.
And this for thousands and thousands of years. Not only: I would like to emphasise another aspect that is no less important for our research. It is true that every time there was an underwater eruption this killed all forms of life; It is also true that, once the eruption ends, what remains is a habitat very rich in mineral salts, where the sea water creates an interchange between the area of the volcanic activity and the immediate vicinity not affected by the volcanic activity. Thus in a few years, the site of the eruptions is once again rich in life, marine flora and fauna that rush to re-inhabit it. And so the coral also, within a few years, will once again populate these new, virgin rocks, to continue this extraordinary cycle of nature...
In an article he wrote a few years ago Mimmo Macaluso describes one of his immersions to the Isola Ferdinandea: “It’s almost surreal. We are immersed in another world, beautiful and unsettling, pullulating with life. The materials that erupted in 1831 and more recently, very rich in minerals, were an exceptional support to the growth of numerous species of algae that found nourishment and sustenance. The same applies to the fish as in this very deep area of the Mediterranean they can find refuge and food.”

This is the exact confirmation of my theory. And the same goes for coral, naturally, which changed its nature and amassed on the bottom of the sea.
Until one fine day Bertu Ammareddu comes around...

To Be Continued...
[text taken with license from the author Giuseppe Rajola from the book Sciacca Mystery]

Enjoy!