SANTO DOMINGO.- Contrary to what’s widely believed Enriquillo lake five years ago was 15 meters below its 1963 level, which proves that the recent flooding is part of a process to recover the land snatched by humans during that period.

The geologist Wilson R. Martinez affirmation and stressed the importance of studies of the Enriquillo basin, since the fossilized reefs around the lake are the unique to the period known as the Holocene.  “The lake isn’t flooding these bordering areas for the first time; instead it’s reclaiming the spaces which have always been part of its sub aquatic dominion.”

“The fossilized reefs around the lake basin are the only known Holocene period fossils exposed above sea level in the entire planet Earth,” he said, adding that during the Glacial Era of that period 10,000 years ago the planet’s temperatures rose and the ice layer melted, which led to a higher sea level.

The scholar, who has a PhD in Geology from Indiana’s Tulane University, will dictate a conference in the Academy of Sciences on Wednesday.