Traces of the deluge

Researchers of the Irkutsk State University and Institutes of the Earth’s Crust and Geochemistry (Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences) have recently discovered traces of a catastrophic hydrobreaking in the middle flow of the Onon river, in Tchasuchey deep (Transbaikalia). They made the discovery having investigated the relief of this area with the help of GoogleEarth, so anyone can look at evidence of the biblical-scale flood by typing “barun torey” (Barun Torey lake in the Chita Region) in the search line and by scrutinizing the locality stretching towards the north-west of the water body approximately through to Tchasuchey.

The point is in the relief of Tchasuchey deep – hills, mounds and ridges, shallow gullies and lakes in the shallow gullies are oriented from the north-west to south-east in that region. Linearly oriented ridge and shallow gullies system is the sign that once a water flow used to rush here. At the northern boundary of the deep, the lakes are big, but within its boundaries they are shallow. The majority of the lakes are oval and round, but few having an elongated shape are pulled out strictly in the direction from the north-west towards the south-east.

Geologists have been debating so far about the origin of ridges and mounds oriented in one direction – if they are of aeolian origin (or wind origin, when the wind sweeps dunes together), or of fluvial origin – when the same is done by running water. The Irkutsk researchers believe that a catastrophic debacle of a gigantic pond took place there, probably this is connected with Selengin Lake that existed in former times and occupied a major part of mainland towards the east of Baikal. The fact that the shallow gully zones alternate with the mound zones is to the credit of the above hypothesis. Hills and ridges prevail in the middle part of Tchasuchey deep, but in the north and in the south, near Barun Torey Lake, shallow gullies and deeps are predominant.

Such geological structures continue up to Harbin and Changchun in China, slightly “turning” to the north. Judging by the relief in the region of China, it is apparent that the flow broke down into several smaller ones.

It is interesting to note that positive forms of the relief are similar to “baire hillocks” in the Caspian Sea region. The same parallel chains of hills consisting of sand and clay stretch in latitudinal direction along Manych shallow gully, on the spot of hypothetical strait between the Caspian and the Black Sea. They were first described by C. Baire and are called after him. Similar formations also exist in Western Siberia where water inrush went from the east to the west. So, it means that “the Deluges” were not infrequent during the glaciation era.