News Earth

China’s mythical ‘Great Flood’ possibly rooted in real disaster

Chinese civilization may have gotten a watery start thanks to a nearly 4,000-year-old deluge

Yellow River

FLOOD SITE  China’s Yellow River cuts through a gorge not far from where researchers say a landslide-created dam burst nearly 4,000 years ago and flooded the region. This finding may support folktales of a Great Flood that led to the founding of Chinese civilization.

 Q. Wu

By Bruce Bower

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Earth

  1. ocean
    Oceans

    Even the deepest, coldest parts of the ocean are getting warmer

    By Maria Temming
  2. Seagrass beds off Virginia’s Eastern Shore
    Environment

    How planting 70 million eelgrass seeds led to an ecosystem’s rapid recovery

    By Joseph Polidoro
  3. earthquake damage in Magna, Utah
    Earth

    50 years ago, scientists were looking for ways to predict earthquakes

    By Maria Temming
  4. picture of a ship in front of the Blackstone glacier
    Oceans

    Large-scale changes in Earth’s climate may originate in the Pacific

    By Gloria Dickie
  5. Greenland ice sheet
    Climate

    By 2100, Greenland will be losing ice at its fastest rate in 12,000 years

    By Carolyn Gramling
  6. a handful of invasive Asian jumping worms
    Environment

    Invasive jumping worms damage U.S. soil and threaten forests

    By Megan Sever
  7. Getz Ice Shelf
    Climate

    Global warming may lead to practically irreversible Antarctic melting

    By Carolyn Gramling
  8. San Francisco Bay bridge smoky skyline
    Environment

    What we know and don’t know about wildfire smoke’s health risks

    By Aimee Cunningham

From the Nature Index

Paid Content