The Search for Atlantis Fuels Underwater Research In early 2009, an Anglo-Greek team of archaeologists and marine biologists diving in the waters off of southern Greece located a sunken settlement dating back to ancient times. The settlement covers 30,000 square meters of ocean floor and is believed to have disappeared beneath the sea some time around 1000 B.C.The site had actually been spotted forty years earlier, but it wasn't until 2009 that the technology existed to properly survey the ruined city.What the underwater researchers found, thanks to the protection provided by shifting sands and calm bay waters, was an entire city with buildings, courtyards, streets, and tombs all intact. The site was also littered with pottery fragments.The fragments suggested that the settlement had been occupied at least 5,000 years ago.Researchers say that their find is the world's oldest submerged city, and discovery has fueled speculation the sunken site might actually be Plato's Atlantis.But Dimitris Sakellariou of the Greek Center for Marine Research, doesn't encourage such speculation except as far as it encourages underwater research.Says Sakellariou, "Atlantis was a myth but it is a myth that keeps underwater exploration going."

Question

The Search for Atlantis Fuels Underwater Research In early 2009, an Anglo-Greek team of archaeologists and marine biologists diving in the waters off of southern Greece located a sunken settlement dating back to ancient times. The settlement covers  30,000 square meters of ocean floor and is believed to have disappeared beneath the sea some time around 1000 B.C.The site had actually been spotted forty years earlier, but it wasn't until 2009 that the technology existed to properly survey the ruined city.What the underwater researchers found, thanks to the protection provided by shifting sands and calm bay waters, was an entire city with buildings, courtyards, streets, and tombs all intact. The site was also littered with pottery fragments.The fragments suggested that the settlement had been occupied at least 5,000 years ago.Researchers say that their find is the world's oldest submerged city, and discovery has fueled speculation the sunken site might actually be Plato's Atlantis.But Dimitris Sakellariou of the Greek Center for Marine Research, doesn't encourage such speculation except as far as it encourages underwater research.Says Sakellariou, "Atlantis was a myth but it is a myth that keeps underwater exploration going."

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The article is discussing the discovery of a sunken settlement and the speculation that it may be Atlantis, but the main focus is on the importance of underwater research and technology. Therefore, the article falls more under the category of providing information (I) rather than persuading or convincing the reader (P).

The Search for Atlantis Fuels Underwater Research in Early 2009