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The Largest Ancient Man Made Canal System on Earth
earthepochs.blogspot.co.uk ^ | April 3, 2014 | johnmjensen jr

Posted on 01/03/2015 4:10:32 PM PST by Fred Nerks

From my Free Web Book 'AncientCanalBuilders.com'

The largest wide-array man made (or at least non natural) structure in the world is in fact an ancient terra formed systems of agricultural-aquaculture canals in Northwestern Botswana and Northeastern Namibia, north of the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa. Obviously quite ancient, the canal systems no longer provide free flowing water throughout its 105,000 mile array, but many sections show obvious intention to provide cross sectional irrigation.

These canals are too evenly spaced over too large an area to be any kind of natural formation. Based on entry and exit points, it is readily apparent this system is a very large, controlled agronomy array and/or aquaculture system. Its age is defined by the overgrown nature of the canals, as well as some areas that are covered over with drift and sand erosion.

The entire complex covers an area about equal in size to the State of Arizona in the USA. The canals are an integrated system of apparent irrigation and agricultural (and probably aquaculture) design. The system is about 350 miles in width and about 300 miles in depth. (For the remnants still visible.) This system represents roughly 67 MILLION acres of sustainable agriculture. Given the sophistication of design, it is entirely plausible to assume an above average yield, i.e. feeding well over 90 persons per acre on an annual basis. The system may or may not have provided a sustainable aquaculture (marine farming) environment. I have no reason to suspect that it did not.

Given the size and scope of this complex, (canals are about 1 mile apart on average) and collectively are roughly 350 X 300 miles in a rough rectangular format. (At least the observable parts) There could be, and probably is, much more to this complex than what is visible to the naked eye. Right now, we can identify ancient cultivation of roughly 105,000 square miles.

One square mile = 27,878,400 square feet, or 640 acres, so the entire complex had a sustained producing land mass of (640 acres x 105,000 square miles) or > 67,200,000 acres. (That is 67 MILLION acres)

One linear mile of canal had (750' width x + >12' depth x 5,280') = 47,520,000 cubic ft of water per linear mile.

Entire canal length (105,000 miles x 47.5 million cubic ft per mile) = 5,000,000,000,000 (That's 5 TRILLION) cubic feet of water in the canals. It would be an incredible waste of time and effort to irrigate >105,000 square miles of sustainable agriculture land, and not use the 5 trillion cubic feet of water circulating in the canals for aquaculture farming. I don't think the builders were that stupid.

Different estimates of the numbers of people this sustainable system would supply varies widely, though it is generally accepted that a system like this, if properly managed would provide a complete annual diet for somewhere between 60 to 120 people per acre. Which means this system was in fact providing food for an average of about 5 Billion people.

This array is in fact the largest non natural artifact on the Planet. It can be clearly viewed unaided from the International Space Station at roughly 230 miles up, which cannot be said for any other non natural feature on Earth.

I would suggest that depth of canal(s) must have been significant to compensate for general slight variations in elevation. There seems to be an average elevation variation of about 60', sometime more, and sometimes less.

Your comments are welcome, or you can contact me here:

johnmjensenjr@gmail.com 321-614-5040

First brought to my attention by Gary Schoening Here is his original Vimeo post: http://vimeo.com/64351951


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: africa; agriculture; ancientcanals; animalhusbandry; botswana; canals; godsgravesglyphs; irrigation; kalahari; kalaharidesert; namibia; remotesensing
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To: Moonman62

http://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/traces-of-nazca-lines-and-crop-circles.html

Anyone with Google Earth can. When Verneukpan was discovered, the formations were described as Nazca Lines and Crop Circles. Get your Google Earth up and look for yourself.


41 posted on 01/03/2015 4:51:27 PM PST by Fred Nerks (Fair Dinkum!)
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To: okie01
Not to mention it supposedly held 5 trillion cubic feet of water. That's equivalent to 36 Baltic Seas or one-fifth of the Mediterranean.

Thats what I thought.

You'd really have to 'want to believe' to overlook that little factoid.

42 posted on 01/03/2015 4:51:43 PM PST by skeeter
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To: cripplecreek

That looks like the effect of wind on sand imo.


43 posted on 01/03/2015 4:54:00 PM PST by Fred Nerks (Fair Dinkum!)
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To: Delta 21; All

Realistically (and I’ll eyeball it overall later), the canals, if such, were probably put in and utilized 1 or 2 at a time, moving in their parallel direction, and abandoned as the soil suffered saline toxicity from the evaporation rate inherent in the area.

They were probably building one or two while utilizing one or two and I’d bet the salinity issue kept the system just barely keeping up with itself.

In that situation, it probably only fed on the high side maybe 5-10 million people. Once it hit either too far a distance to get the available flow there (evaporation and infiltration), if the original starting point hadn’t been relieved of it’s salt concentrations by rains/flooding, the society responsible for it would have collapsed.


44 posted on 01/03/2015 4:55:48 PM PST by Axenolith (Government blows, and that which governs least, blows least...)
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To: Fred Nerks

It should because sand dunes often make straight lines.


45 posted on 01/03/2015 4:55:49 PM PST by cripplecreek (You can't half ass conservatism.)
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To: Fred Nerks
but the massive evidence of canals (terra-forming?) is quite stupendous.

That is very true, the word stupendous barely covers it.

Now if the author had only thought a moment before jumping to a mathematical conclusion which is clearly nutso, to use a scientific word.

Nonetheless, I think the real story would still be stupendous.

46 posted on 01/03/2015 4:58:31 PM PST by Balding_Eagle (The Gruber Revelations are proof that God is still smiling on America.)
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To: skeeter
Maybe. Some math whiz here should be able to calculate the amount needed to fill this thing from the dimensions given.

169 cubic miles is 704 cubic kilometers.

In comparison:

Lake Tahoe - 469 ckm
Dead Sea - 810 ckm

I really doubt this thing was ever filled.

47 posted on 01/03/2015 5:01:58 PM PST by FatherofFive (Islam is evil and must be eradicated)
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To: Fred Nerks
Very freaky! It does look man-made and VERY large.

Google Maps View

Click the above link, click on Satellite view, and zoom out. You will see the entire "canal" system, which is very large.

48 posted on 01/03/2015 5:04:07 PM PST by CodeToad (Islam should be outlawed and treated as a criminal enterprise!)
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To: central_va

They musta found some snail darters to protect and shut off the water.


49 posted on 01/03/2015 5:05:10 PM PST by Rodamala
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To: Fred Nerks

golf course?


50 posted on 01/03/2015 5:05:17 PM PST by woofie
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To: cripplecreek

What you are showing is sand.

I am under the impression that the canals in question are dug into the dirt.

Am I wrong about being dug into the dirt? That’s a big undertaking all by itself.


51 posted on 01/03/2015 5:07:50 PM PST by Balding_Eagle (The Gruber Revelations are proof that God is still smiling on America.)
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To: Balding_Eagle

It may have been an idea that simply didn’t work out once it was built.


52 posted on 01/03/2015 5:08:21 PM PST by Kirkwood (Zombie Hunter)
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To: Fred Nerks

The ancients did some amazing things!


53 posted on 01/03/2015 5:08:27 PM PST by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: Balding_Eagle
More straight lines. These in Central Australia.


54 posted on 01/03/2015 5:09:15 PM PST by cripplecreek (You can't half ass conservatism.)
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To: central_va

Walmart.


55 posted on 01/03/2015 5:09:28 PM PST by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: Kirkwood

They build, what, 10,000 miles of canals, and then decide it doesn’t work?

THAT’S even harder to believe.


56 posted on 01/03/2015 5:10:19 PM PST by Balding_Eagle (The Gruber Revelations are proof that God is still smiling on America.)
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To: Balding_Eagle
People look for explanations based upon the familiar. That doesn't always work. Who and for what reason would create this, in an ancient lake bed?

If you follow this on Google Earth, it spreads out over an incredibly large region, what you see here is just a small, concentrated portion.

57 posted on 01/03/2015 5:11:37 PM PST by Fred Nerks (Fair Dinkum!)
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To: CodeToad

Excellent! That image clearly shows the Okavango Panhandle and the huge delta.


58 posted on 01/03/2015 5:15:20 PM PST by Fred Nerks (Fair Dinkum!)
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To: CodeToad

Holy Crap... those structures extend all the way to just north of Etosha National Park. I am boggling here that I never heard of this before.


59 posted on 01/03/2015 5:15:43 PM PST by Rodamala
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To: cripplecreek

Thanks, those pictures give another perspective.

It would be impossible to come to a good scientific conclusion based on the little information presented here.

I do appreciate the opposing view you’ve presented.


60 posted on 01/03/2015 5:16:21 PM PST by Balding_Eagle (The Gruber Revelations are proof that God is still smiling on America.)
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