1014 Great Sea-Flood: Ancient Chronicle Details Catastrophic Event, Asteroid Impact Theory Explored

A thousand-year-old entry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records a devastating "great sea-flood" on September 28, 1014, which swept across England and Northern Europe, reaching far inland and causing immense loss of life and property. Modern scientific inquiry suggests this historical event may have been a tsunami, potentially triggered by an asteroid impact in the Atlantic Ocean. The North Ages social media account highlighted this historical record, stating, "> The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records a great sea-flood #OTD in 1014, the tide ‘reaching inland further than ever before, submerging many homesteads and drowning many people’. It may have been a tsunami caused by an asteroid strike."

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a primary historical source, describes the event as occurring "on the eve of St. Michael's day," noting that the flood "spread wide over this land, and ran so far up as it never did before, overwhelming many towns, and an innumerable multitude of people." Twelfth-century chronicler William of Malmesbury further elaborated, stating, "A tidal wave, of the sort which the Greeks call euripus, grew to an astonishing size such as the memory of man cannot parallel, so as to submerge villages many miles inland and overwhelm and drown their inhabitants."

While large storm surges are common, the widespread nature of the 1014 flood, affecting coasts from England to the Netherlands and potentially even across the Atlantic, points towards a tsunami. Researchers note the absence of contemporary records for a major earthquake in Europe around that time, which would typically cause such a wave. This has led to alternative hypotheses for the origin of the massive inundation.

One prominent theory, explored by forensic geologist Dallas Abbott and others, suggests an oceanic asteroid or comet impact. Evidence, including extraterrestrial debris found in bogs in New York and the Caribbean dating to around 1014 AD, supports the possibility of such an event. Given that 70% of Earth's surface is water, an asteroid impact is statistically more likely to occur in the ocean than on land, potentially displacing vast amounts of water.

Further geological investigations have provided potential physical evidence in Britain. Dr. Phill Teasdale from the University of Brighton and his team have identified likely tsunami deposits at sites such as Marazion Marsh in Cornwall and Chesil Beach in Dorset. These deposits contain microscopic marine organisms, like foraminifera, which would have been swept far inland by a powerful wave, corroborating the ancient accounts.

The 1014 "great sea-flood" remains a subject of ongoing scientific and historical research. While the precise cause continues to be debated, the historical records and emerging geological evidence underscore a catastrophic natural disaster that profoundly impacted the early 11th-century world, highlighting the vulnerability of coastal communities to extreme events.