A prehistoric underwater forest, 10,000 years old, was discovered in the North Sea by a British diver. This forest linked Britain to the European continent until it was engulfed by rising water 6,000 years ago.
By diving off the coast of Norfolk County (Great Britain) in the North Sea, some 200 kilometers north-east of London, British oceanographer Dawn Watson discovered a prehistoric forest buried under the waters, extending over several thousand hectares.
Dating back to around 10,000 years ago, this forest was located on an ancient land known to geologists as the Doggerland, which linked present-day Great Britain to the European continent during the Quaternary ice ages. It should be known that during the last glacial maximum just over 20,000 years ago, the sea level was lower than at the present time, about a hundred meters, which made emerge part of the North Sea.
And it was with the end of the last glaciation that water began to rise, reaching its current level around 6,000 years ago. As a result, the expanse of the Doggerland, thought to have been once frequented by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers (10,000 to 5,000 BC, in Europe), was swallowed up by the waters. And with it ... the forest discovered by oceanographer Dawn Watson.
According to Dawn Watson, this forest would have been made visible due to a severe storm that hit the coast of Norfolk County in December 2013.