Lasers May Have Found City of Gold

[Hum]

Underneath the thick, virgin rainforest cover in the Mosquitia region of Honduras, archaeologists have discovered ruins they think may be the lost city of Ciudad Blanca.

Legends say the "White City" is full of gold, which is why conquistador Hernando Cortes was among the first Ciudad Blanca seekers in the 1500s. But the method the modern researchers used was a little different from previous explorers' techniques. The modern-day researchers flew over the area in a small plane and shot billions of laser pulses at the ground, creating a 3D digital map of the topology underneath the trees.

This is one of the first times this technique, called light detection and ranging (LiDAR), has been used to map ancient ruins. Beyond archaeology, LiDAR researchers at the National Science Foundation are looking to develop the technology for mapping disasters using drones, for military spying and for tracking erosion under rivers and shallow parts of the ocean.

Before LiDAR improved enough for their work, archaeologists discovered ruins the old-fashioned way ? by hacking through forests using machetes. LiDAR is faster and cheaper. It's been gaining ground since 2009, when a U.S. archaeology team working on Mayan ruins first used the technology to peer beneath 80 square miles (207 square kilometers) of forest canopy in Belize. After four days of laser scanning, team members discovered buildings and agricultural fields they hadn't found in 25 years of study. The team was supported by the then-newly-created National Science Foundation organization for LiDAR science, the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping. [10 Modern Tools for Indiana Jones]

Airborne LiDAR works by sending more than 100,000 short laser pulses to the ground every second while a plane flies over the area of interest. The laser light hits the ground, then returns to the aircraft. The time it takes for the light to make the back-and-forth trip tells researchers the altitude of points on the ground.

The technology is able to detect height differences of less than 4 inches (10 centimeters) and maps to GPS coordinates within 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters). "It's within a step, in many cases," said Bill Carter, University of Houston engineer who develops LiDAR systems for the National Science Foundation.

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[protocol7]

Somehow I can't see this turning out well. The price of gold would drop like a rock if "el dorado" was ever discovered.

[Pam14160]

You just have to love technically. It makes things easier by the day. Coooooooooooooooooool. . . :)

[The Rev]

Somehow I can't see this turning out well. The price of gold would drop like a rock if "el dorado" was ever discovered.

I highly doubt it. Our economy is ever faltering... The reason its so high is because our economy is getting weaker. If that doesn't change, neither will the price of gold.

[Ryster]

Wasn't this a cartoon from the 80's? :)

[imachip]

Wasn't this a cartoon from the 80's? :)

Children of the sun, know that your time has just begun..... Oh yeah not seen it since but that was an awesome intro song. Didn't like the stories much, preferred around the world in 80 days and 3 the muskehounds.

Oh found this :)

[Azusa]

Wasn't this a cartoon from the 80's? :)

It's getting a season 2 soon http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/06/06/the-mysterious-cities-of-gold-get-a-second-season-twenty-five-years-later/

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Somehow I can't see this turning out well. The price of gold would drop like a rock if "el dorado" was ever discovered.

It's historical ruins, it's not like they'd go and dig it all up and melt it down (People would try, but they'd be stopped, etc.)

Anyway, we don't actually know how much gold is there (If they even do find it), it's quite possible it was just a name, or that it was taken a long time ago (Or it could still be there, just not as much as expected, etc.)

[DocM]

And even in ancient cultures most architectural gold was actually a very thin layer of gold leaf over a base material. All that's needed to make it is thin poured gold, leather sheets and a wooden mallet & anvil.

[+hedleigh Subscriber²]

And even in ancient cultures most architectural gold was actually a very thin layer of gold leaf over a base material. All that's needed to make it is thin poured gold, leather sheets and a wooden mallet & anvil.

I'm sure I have seen something that suggests that an ounce of gold can be hammered to cover a tennis court as gold leaf.

But then again, I may have dreamt that! :woot:

[DocM]

You didn't dream that. The type used in jewelry-making is only 0.1 to 0.125 ?m thick.

[+hedleigh Subscriber²]

You didn't dream that. The type used in jewelry-making is only 0.1 to 0.125 ?m thick.

Thanks DocM, often remember these kinds of tidbits, can never remember from where. :)

[Hum]

I hope that the USA or other country does not try to loot Honduras, as has happened in the past. ;)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122356/

[Growled Member]

Amazing. Finding the city and actually getting there might be two different things, though. I'm assuming that the city is way out in the forest.

[episode]

Somehow I can't see this turning out well. The price of gold would drop like a rock if "el dorado" was ever discovered.

Nope.

[protocol7]

Guess I've been watching too many movies.

[redvamp128]

And even in ancient cultures most architectural gold was actually a very thin layer of gold leaf over a base material. All that's needed to make it is thin poured gold, leather sheets and a wooden mallet & anvil.

You have a very good point-

The other thing that most people are not counting on is the weathering so most of that thin coating is probably washed away. More than likely it is part of what is found in the rivers and streams of the region. You know kind of like fertilizer washes from grass except in this case it is gold.

Just think though.... how many more "lost" cities there are out there to find... I mean other than the undersea caverns and the ocean floor... there is not much left to explore.

[Hell-In-A-Handbasket]

The government will take all of it and rebuild it in a bank vault, or sold to pay for a toilet seat.

[Growled Member]

Just think though.... how many more "lost" cities there are out there to find... I mean other than the undersea caverns and the ocean floor... there is not much left to explore.

I think you just single handedly killed the explorer spirit in the world today. :laugh: