Though there have been recent initiatives taken from the UK's side to formally leave the EU on the political ground, geologists are of the opinion that there are hints of a much earlier Brexit. Their findings indicate towards the destruction of a thin strip of land that used to connect Europe with Britain in the ancient times.
According to BBC, the geologists believe that the Dover Strait might have been fully opened up owing to the overflowing of a large lake that annihilated the land link almost 450000 years ago. Marks of this Brexit are supposed to be found on the seabed of the English Channel.
The geologists say that almost half a million years ago, a land bridge connected Dover in Southern England with Calais in northern France. The huge glacial lake that the scientists speak of was to the north of this land bridge. It is presumed to have formed at the edge of an ice sheet that covered much of Europe during the Ice Age. A few decades ago, large underwater holes were found at the bottom of the seabed that was being surveyed by engineers for the Channel Tunnel, which point towards the occurrence of the Brexit.
According to The Guardian, the geologists are of the opinion that if not for the massive Brexit event, Britain would have remained attached to Northern France. This could have made it easy to access the rest of Europe. A number of long-held theories along with high-resolution mapping of the landscape made it possible for the geologists to come up with the conclusion.
Reportedly, the sediment filled holes are enormous in size, 140 meters in depth and up to 4 km in diameter. They exist in a line running across the seabed. The existence of a huge valley has been revealed by the analysis of the new data. Geologists suggest that it was formed due to catastrophic flooding around 160000 years ago resulting in the Brexit.
Geologists suggest that the two events together opened up the Dover Strait completely. However, the formation of Britain into an island was completed about 125000 years ago when the warmer climate resulted in a rise in sea levels and ultimately leading to the Brexit. The research was published in the journal "Nature Communications".
