“Could the waters of the Atlantic be drawn off, so as to expose to view this great sea-gash, which separates continents, and extends from the Arctic to the Antarctic, it would present a scene the most rugged, grand, and imposing. The very ribs of the solid earth, with the foundations of the sea, would be brought to light, and we should have presented to us at one view the empty cradle of the ocean …”
![“Let us suppose, that the Old and New worlds were formerly but one continent, and that, by a violent earthquake, the ancient Atalantis [sic] of Plato was sunk ... The sea would necessarily rush in from all quarters, and form what is now called the Atlantic ocean.” quote by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/7ec/georges-louis-leclerc-comte-de_ancient_let-us-suppose-that-the-old-and-new-worl_2371178.jpg)
