{"id":15889,"date":"2011-12-07T13:48:28","date_gmt":"2011-12-07T13:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/?p=15889"},"modified":"2026-02-12T16:55:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T16:55:32","slug":"geomythology-n","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/geomythology-n\/","title":{"rendered":"Geomythology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Geomythology <\/strong>is a word coined by the geologist Dorothy Vitaliano <\/a>in her 1973, book L<\/em>egends of the <\/em>E<\/em>arth<\/em>[306<\/a>] <\/sup>to describe “<\/em>the study of alleged references to geological events in mythology.”<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Since then, the term has gradually gained widespread acceptance, including an extensive entry in the Encyclopedia of Geology<\/em>(a)<\/sup>.\u00a0 The status of the subject has been consolidated by its inclusion as a separate\u00a0course at the University of Puget Sound(b)<\/sup>. Apart from Vitaliano other writers, such as Gerald Wells<\/a>, have applied geomythology to the study of Atlantis without necessarily using the term(e)<\/sup>. I should point out that mythology is also used to transmit details of spectacular astronomical events as well as more mundane political or military exploits.<\/p>\r\n

Further support for the young discipline came with the publication of Myth and Geology, <\/em>by the Geological Society of London in 2007, with Luigi Piccardi & Bruce Masse <\/a>as editors[1541<\/a>]<\/sup>.<\/p>\r\n

Patrick Nunn, an Australian geologist, who, although an Atlantis sceptic, has begun to reconsider the possibility of ancient myths containing important geological information(c)<\/sup>. A 2017 paper by Nunn gave examples of where the application of geomythology has offered solutions to some old mysteries(g)<\/sup>.<\/p>\r\n

Also in May 2021, the BBC offered a lengthy paper, by Mark Piesing, on the development of geomythology in recent years and how it may have implications for our planet’s future(f)<\/sup>.<\/p>\r\n

Professor Timothy John Burbery of Marshall University supports the linkage of the eruption of Thera<\/a> with the Titanomachy<\/a>, in an August 2021 article(c)<\/sup>. He has recently published his new book, Geomythology: How Common Stories Reflect Earth Events <\/em>[<\/sup>1873<\/a>]<\/sup>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Cindy Clendenon, presumably inspired by Vitaliano, has launched a related new specialised field of study, which she has named ‘hydromythology’ in her 2009 book, Hydromythology and the Ancient Greek World <\/em>[<\/sup>0801<\/sup><\/a>]<\/sup>, a review of which is available online(d)<\/sup>.<\/p>\r\n

(a) <\/sup>Wayback Machine (archive.org)<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

(b) <\/sup>Untitled (archive.org)<\/a><\/p>\r\n

(c) <\/sup>(BBC<\/em> Jan 19, 2016) BBC-Earth-The-Atlantis-style-myths-that-turned-out-to-be-true.pdf (tjanepalmer.com)<\/a><\/p>\r\n

(d)<\/sup> https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20190927120932\/https:\/\/bmcr.brynmawr.edu\/2010\/2010-08-65.html<\/a><\/p>\r\n

(e)<\/sup> https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160527131112\/https:\/\/www.wrl-inc.org\/tag\/geomythology<\/a><\/p>\r\n

(f) <\/sup>(BBC<\/em> May 10, 2021)\u00a0 The myths that hint at past disasters – BBC Future<\/a><\/p>\r\n

(g) <\/sup> https:\/\/www.bing.com\/search?q=how+a+geographer+began+mining+a+myth&cvid=5cae180662dd48d6968fb1c483e2c55d&aqs=edge..69i57.26555j0j1&pglt=43&FORM=ANNTA1&PC=U531<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Geomythology is a word coined by the geologist Dorothy Vitaliano in her 1973, book Legends of the Earth[306] to describe “the study of alleged references to geological events in mythology.” Since then, the term has gradually gained widespread acceptance, including an extensive entry in the Encyclopedia of Geology(a).\u00a0 The status of the subject has been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4738,607,2756,5467,3297,334,4326,5589,6920,4488,6919,3987],"class_list":["post-15889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bruce-masse","tag-cindy-clendenon","tag-dorothy-vitaliano","tag-encyclopedia-of-geology","tag-geomythology","tag-gerald-wells","tag-hydromythology","tag-luigi-piccardi","tag-mark-piesing","tag-patrick-nunn","tag-timothy-john-burbery","tag-university-of-puget-sound"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15889"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66503,"href":"https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15889\/revisions\/66503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}