Indus Valley Civilization

Harappan Civilization
(The Huffington Post, 2014)

Cast your mind back to one of the earliest human settlements in what is Pakistan and North-West India today, the Indus Valley.

This civilisation, which is also known as the Harappan Civilization, is one of the most mysterious as archaeologists still haven't been able to decipher what is thought to be their language. At the peak of its population, the Indus Valley had influence over a larger area of land than either Egypt or Mesopotamia did (Khan, 2014). They were known for their advanced sanitation and waterways systems. They had the advantage of a readily accessible water source as the Indus River is ~3000km in length. The civilisation was situated on the adjacent floodplain. Farming settlements started around 4000 BC but religious practices are dated back around as early as 5500BC! It wasn't until 2600 B.C. to 1700 B.C. that major cities and started appearing in the vicinity of the Indus River (Ancient India, 13/09/16). There have been up to 1,052 cities uncovered in the Indus Valley area with the main cities including; Harappa, Ganeriwala and Mohenjo-Daro in modern-day Pakistan, and Dholavira, Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi, Rupar, and Lothal in modern-day India (Boundless, 2016). The villages included brick and stone buildings with drainage systems, wells and storage systems throughout. This was insightful as the annual rainfall for this region was low at an estimated 15-125mm at the time (Cowan, 2014). Therefore they had to make use of the rivers in the surrounding area to supply their ever growing populations. 

Geology Of The Area

The Indus river was most likely influenced by the collision between the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate. This was caused by the Indian Plate breaking away from the continent of Gondwana around 100 million years ago. This set it on a journey North towards Asia causing it to collide with the Eurasian plate about 50 million years ago. The collision caused the Indian plate to subduct under the Eurasian plate which was subjected to compressional deformation. The result was the start of the Alpine orogeny that ultimately formed the Himalayans. All three main types of rock were formed; metamorphic due to the subduction and deformation processes, igneous due to the volcanic activity associated with plate motion and sedimentary due to the continuous uplift and erosional processes. After this came a period of multiple uplift and erosional processes which helped to create the plains. Before all this, there was a formation of a volcanic arc which changed the topography of the Indus Valley radically, but for the purpose of the civilisation, the geology of the formation of the river and plains is more relevant.
The Indus River is sourced from the seasonal drainage of an elevated upper basin that lies across  Tibet, the Himalayas, and the Karakoram (Inam, 2007). This is shown in figure 2, which is a google earth image with a very crude labelling done by myself of the approximation of where everything is in relation to each other. The Indus River also gathers sediment and water from a number of other small intersecting rivers. There is evidence of the Indus River periodically changes course as it slowly moves eastward throughout the centuries (Ancient origins, 2013). Due to many glaciers in the area, the peak flow of the river occurs throughout the monsoon season. The timing and length of the monsoons are affected by the glacial melt intensity. A weakening of the monsoons and thus a decrease of water flow in the Indus River could have assisted the demise of the Indus Valley metropolis.

Google Image of the Indus Valley area and where the basins are located in relation to the civilisation locality. Picture produced by Abbey Douglas

How The Hydrosphere Was Influenced

The citizens of the Indus Valley used the water sourced from the basins behind the Himalayans, coming down the river to provide water resources to their people. This water was then distributed into wells throughout the cities that the people would walk to, to collect. Most towns in the Indus Valley had some form of toilets, either personal or public, that would carry the waste away from their houses. Some of these examples of how different cities used their water supplies are listed below.

Indus Valley Demise 

The ancient city of Mohenjo-Daroc was first discovered in 1920 in Pakistan (Ancient origins, 2013). It was the first Indus valley city to be found and uncovered. It was first thought that the downfall of this city in around 2000BC was due to hostile invaders, as there were skeletal remains found throughout the city. With further investigation, major evidence of flooding has been found such as the large quantities of silt and clay layers found throughout the city (Ancient origins, 2013). This could have caused a mass breakout of disease and ultimately the downfall of this city. 
But it is probable that the downfall of the Indus Valley was a result of many unfortunate circumstances. For example, scholars have found evidence that before abandonment there was overcrowding in the cities with houses being built on top of other houses, important buildings such as the Great Bath at Mohenjo Daro was also built over. People stopped maintaining infrastructures such as drains. Some traders were even hiding valuables under their floors (Bitesize, 2016). This makes you wonder, what were they so scared of?

Here are a few theories: war although this has mostly been disproved, trade collapse, or a change of river course. It is possible that it could have been more than one factor. The theory that I believe either caused abandonment or at least helped towards the end result, is climate change. Around 1500-1100 BCE there was a major climatic change event termed the Bond event that destroyed Bronze age civilisations across the world (Viswanathan, 2015). Bond events are North Atlantic climate fluctuations occurring every ≈1,470 ± 500 years throughout the Holocene that is loosely linked to climate change (The chronical of the fall, 2016). 

Another idea is that the monsoon cycle essentially stopped for as long as two centuries (Scientific American, 2014). If you can remember from previous paragraphs, the monsoon cycles are what feeds the Indus River therefore, this implication would be very bad! This was based on isotope dating from the sediment of an ancient lake (Scientific American, 2014). 

References

Ancient India, Indus Valley, viewed: 13/09/2016, http://www.ancientindia.co.uk/indus/home_set.html

Ancient origins, 2013, The Mohenjo Daro 'Massacre', viewed: 13/10/2016, http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/mohenjo-daro-massacre-00819




Bitesize, 2016, What happened to the Indus Civilisation, viewed: 16/10/2016, http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z8b987h




Boundless, 2016, Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization', viewed: 13/09/2016, https://www.boundless.com/world-history/textbooks/boundless-world-history-i-ancient-civilizations-enlightenment-textbook/early-civilizations-in-the-indian-subcontinent-4/the-indus-river-valley-civilizations-23/cities-of-the-indus-valley-civilization-101-13202/


Cowan, M.K., 2014, 'Some Ancient Water System and Patterns of Land Degradation', Ancient Water Systems. 




Inam, A., Clift, P.D., Giosan, L., Tabrez, A.R., Tahir, M., Rabbani, M.M, and Danish, M., 2007, 'The Geographic, Geological and Oceanographic Setting of the Indus River', Large Rivers: Geomorphology and Management. pg 333-346.




Khan, S., 2014, 'Evolution of sanitation and wastewater technologies through the centuries', IWA Publishing, Chapter 2, pg 25-40.




Scientific American, 2014, 200-Year Drought Doomed Indus Valley Civilization, viewed: 16/10/2016, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/200-year-drought-doomed-indus-valley-civilization/




The chronical of the fall, 2016, Bond Event, viewed: 16/10/2016, http://cof.quantumfuturegroup.org/events/5373




The Huffington Post, 2014, Long-Term Drought Doomed Indus Valley Civilization, Researchers Say, viewed: 13/09/2016, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/04/drought-doomed-indus-valley_n_4895673.html




Viswanathan, B., 2015, What was/were the reason/s behind the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization?, viewed: 16/10/2016, https://www.quora.com/What-was-were-the-reason-s-behind-the-decline-of-the-Indus-Valley-civilization




Wheeler, M., 1968, The Indus Civilization Third Edition, Cambridge University Press, New York. 

Bibliography and Recommended Reading

The Indus Civilisation, third edition, Cambridge University Press, New York. 

http://ancient-water-systems.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/AWS-4-June-2014-reviewed.pdf

http://www.geol.lsu.edu/pclift/pclift/Publications_files/2007_Inam_etal.pdf

https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=WxXu83RxSNwC&pg=PA554&lpg=PA554&dq=Mohenjo-Daro+influence+on+the+hydrologic+system&source=bl&ots=2o5lVydQXI&sig=bZYhee17KT-Kd3Sk5xD8aECGGu4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjW9reS5NbPAhXn0FQKHa-5B-AQ6AEINjAE#v=onepage&q=Mohenjo-Daro%20influence%20on%20the%20hydrologic%20system&f=false

Angelakis, A.N., Mays, L.W., Koutsoyiannis, D., Mamassis, N., 2012, 'Evolution of water supply Through the Millennia', IWA Publishing, 553-554. 

(Possible downfall of mohenjo-daro)

Maya Civilization

Tikal Settlement, Capital of Maya Civilization
(Pappas, 2013)

What, you may ask, would you do to survive if the only water sources were undrinkable? Well, you would do as the Mayans did and look to the heavens. 

In the beginning, early Mayans used springs located close to their settlements to survive but as their population increases so did their thirst for the elixir of life. And so the great and mighty Mayan civilisation began the arduous and risky process of collecting rain water in a temperate climate where rain would not fall for months at a time. The Mayans began their journey into the history books with their cleverly devised and well executed civil constructions, in the rugged landscape of Central America. As the civilisations became more complex so did their method of collecting usable water. Each villages storage system boiled down to one key idea; that harvesting rainwater and manipulating it to their advantage was the only way to survive.

Geology Of The Area

The Maya civilisation was situated on the Yucatan Peninsula which consists of karst limestone (Scribol, 2016). The peninsula is the exposed portion of the Yucatan Platform. The entire platform consists of the same material which is the layering of fossilised calcareous organisms and sediment on the ocean floor, most likely in the inner to a mid-shelf region. In some parts at depth, there is dolomite and evaporates present. Following the formation of the limestone was a period of uplift, resulting in a reverse Atlantis (Yucatan, 2008). The platform is defined by a flat low-lying area, and the limestone is geologically very young (Backyard nature, 2/9/16). A system of complex faulting and volcanism makes up the rest of the mountainous area of Mexico (Mines Online, 2013). For the purposes of the Mayan civilisation, the limestone peninsula is what we will focus on. 

How The Hydrology Was Influenced

Due to the porosity of the limestone, there is a remarkable absence of surface water. On the other hand, any rainwater that hits the surface starts dissolving the limestone due to the low amount of carbon dioxide present. This means there is a large amount of fresh ground water and natural cisterns below the ground surface that store it. Essentially, the Mayans discovered these and utilised their resources, which contributes to their intelligence and intuition as a civilisation. 

The overall design of their water system was simplistic yet achievable with the resources at hand, which is a key attribute to its considerable success. The method was quite simply to collect rain water in these natural cisterns and in man-made chultuns. They would often line the chultuns with a mixture of limestone, sand and water to make a hard stucco that would waterproof the storage units (Pappas, 2013). This meant no rainwater would be lost through absorption into the soil or dissolved further into the limestone. How this water was then distributed throughout each settlement depended on the creativity of the architects. 

An example of a settlement in the Mayan civilisation that used the basic method was the Puuc civilisation. In one settlement called Xcoch, which lasted from 800BD – 100AD, they found caves that reach down to the water table, as shown in figure 2. These caves were thought to be used not only for a clean drinking source but for religious purposes also. The Mayans' in this settlement connected these caves to reservoirs, which were also collecting rainwater. Elaborate cisterns, which Mayans called chultuns, were designed to help keep the water flowing throughout the settlement. (Scribol, 2016)

Figure 2: A subterranean water cave (cenote) in Yucatan. (Scribol, 2016)

How The Paleoclimate Affected The Survival Of The Mayan Civilisation 

By the year 800 AD around 14 million people were living on the Yutacan peninsula (Gill, 1994). Within the next 200 years, more than half of the cities had been deserted with the remaining cities severely depopulated.  Throughout the 19th and 20th century historians and archaeologists alike have been asking the same question: what caused the mass depopulation of the Mayan civilisation in such a short period of time? For a long time, a popular theory suggested the downfall was caused by the Mayans themselves whether it was due to deforestation, bad agricultural practices, war or in relation to a potential precarious political system, no one really knew (Medina-Elizalde et al, 2010). It hasn't been until recent years that the theory of severe drought around the time of the Mayan downfall, has been brought to life. This theory takes into account the paleoclimate, bringing forth the hypothesis that the Mayans could have had very little to do with their untimely downfall (Turner, 2010).
The theory is based around little water coming into their local hydrologic system. This is most likely due to less water being precipitated into the basins, therefore less water is flowing into the system. The impact of this is that the water table will drop, making it harder for the Mayans to collect water from their underground cisterns, such as in Xcoch. It also means other cities which collected water in reservoirs were in a deficit loss. This is derived from a basic understanding that if less water is coming into the system and the same amount of water as before the drought is leaving the system to provide for the masses, then the water will run out quicker. Either way, the Mayans were getting less and less water as the severe drought continued on for a period of hundreds of years. By the time the Mexicans came to invade and conquer, there wasn't much protest going on as most of the Mayans had been taken by the drought.

Figure 3: Map of Desertification spatially around the world.
(Ace geography, 4/9/16) 

How The Mayans Actions Affected Future Civilisations

Before the drought came and cleared out all the Mayans, they were in a similar situation as all major civilisations. This was the centuries of abuse to their land of deforestation and degradation, causing desertification. This is still a major issue and contributes to one of the highest environmental challenges of our society today (World day to combat desertification, 3/9/16). As you can see to the right in figure 3, desertification is a major problem in a scarily large portion of the world. It also shows that where the Yucatan Peninsular is located, the land that connects North America with South America is vulnerable to desertification. This is seen in present Yucatan Peninsula where there used to be jungles is now just desert. The soils are depleted of nutrients due to over farming and have never managed to regenerate.

References

Ace geography, What is desertification?, viewed: 04/10/2016, http://www.acegeography.com/what-is-desertification.html

Backyard nature, An Over View of The Geology Of the Northen Yucatan, viewed: 02/10/2016, http://www.backyardnature.net/yucatan/geology~.htm

Gill, R.B., 1994, 'The great Maya droughts', ProQuest.  
World day to combat desertification, Desertification, viewed: 03/10/2016, http://www.un.org/en/events/desertificationday/background.shtml

Medina-Elizalde, M., Burns, S.J, Lea, D.W., Asmerom, Y., von Gunten, L., Polyak, V., Vuille, M., Karmalkar, A. 2010. 'High resolution stalagmite climate record from the Yucatán Peninsula spanning the Maya terminal classic period', Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 289, pgs 255-262.

Mines Online, 2013, Mexico's Geological Setting, viewed: 04/09/2016, http://www.minesonline.com/government-project-opportunities/mexico-opportunities/mexico-s-geological-setting.aspx

Pappas, S., Live Science, 2013, Sustainable Tech Saw Ancient Maya Through Drought, viewed: 06/10/2016, http://www.livescience.com/21622-ancient-maya-water-system.html 

Scribol, 2016, The Amazing Water Management of the Ancient Mayans, viewed: 4/10/2016, http://scribol.com/anthropology-and-history/archaelogy/the-amazing-water-management-of-the-ancient-mayans/ 

Turner, B.L., 2010, 'Unlocking the ancient Maya and their environment: Paleo-evidence and dating resolution', Geological Society of America, v0. 38; no. 6; p. 575–576; doi: 10.1130/focus062010.1. 575

Yucatan, 2008, Geology of the Yucatan Peninsula, viewed: 05/10/2016, http://www.beautiful-yucatan-peninsula.com/yucatan-peninsula.html

Figure 1 - Pappas, S., Live Science, 2013, Sustainable Tech Saw Ancient Maya Through Drought, viewed: 06/10/2016, http://www.livescience.com/21622-ancient-maya-water-system.html

Figure 2 - Scribol, 2016, The Amazing Water Management of the Ancient Mayans, viewed: 4/10/2016, http://scribol.com/anthropology-and-history/archaelogy/the-amazing-water-management-of-the-ancient-mayans/

Figure 3 - Ace geography, What is desertification?, viewed: 04/10/2016, http://www.acegeography.com/what-is-desertification.html

Bibliography and Suggested Reading

http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.canterbury.ac.nz/docview/304104303/abstract/7D3225B0C9AB41D0PQ/1?accountid=14499
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/a-mayan-water-system-with-lessons-for-today/?_r=0

http://www.tgdaily.com/general-sciences-features/64742-sophisticated-mayan-water-management-system-revealed

http://nationalgeographic.org/media/technology-rainwater-survival-maya/

https://www.geo.umass.edu/climate/papers2/Medina-Elizalde_EPSL2010.pdf

http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/38/6/575.full.pdf+html

Minoan (Atlantis?!) Civilisation

 Could this be the answer everyone is looking for? Could this be the lost civilisation of Atlantis?!

Figure 1: Theorised idea of what the city of Atlantis looked like if it did exist.
Source: https://nz.pinterest.com/poonchunyau/concept-art/

I really doubt it but the idea is nice. Here is some of the evidence so you can make up your own mind:

- Words of Plato;

" Our records show how your city checked a great power which arrogantly advanced from its base in the Atlantic Ocean to attack the cities of Europe and Asia. For in those days, the Atlantic was navigable." - Pluton

This evidence, according to (Archaeology et al) fits with the findings and evidence of the Minoan culture being the long-lost Atlantis. This also makes somewhat sense as there were artifacts of weaponry found around the excavation sites but no fortitude was found therefore the Minoans did not have any defence. This could mean they travelled away to conquer such as Plato suggests? 

- The extravagant palaces of the Minoan culture give evidence that they had wealth and power like the proposed Atlantians. 

(Archaeology et al)

But who really knows the truth eh? Let's get back to the geology! 

History Lesson!

Figure 2: Google Earth Image of Minoan Civilisation in relation to everywhere else.
Made by Abbey Douglas

What's left of the Minoan culture can be found on the biggest island in Greece, Crete. It is roughly 250 km from East to West and can be seen in figure 2. This civilisation started to settle around the 2000BC and rapidly grew in size. This included around 4 different villages that have been found, each with their own grand palace. The order of the villages as they descend in size is Knossos, Phaistos, Malia and Zakros (Cartwright, 2009). The archaeologist who excavated the first village, Knossos, names the civilisation Minoan after the legendary King Minos (Ancient-Greece, 2002). The Minoan culture lasted till around the 1400 BC, with its demise still largely debated. Their demise is so widely speculated as it happened when they were at peak power. This collapse is often thought to have been brought on by the eruption of the Santorini Volcano, Thera. They were also the first civilisation in Europe to use a written language and it has only been recently deciphered in the last few years (Archaeology et al, 14/10/16). 

Their main source of trading was through timber exports. Unfortunately, this has resulted in a mass deforestation on the island to the point where the island looks to be completely deforested (Ancient-Greece, 2002). This is shown below in figure 3. It is also thought that the deforestation could have been caused by invasions (Dilos Holiday World, 1995). This had lead to increased soil erosion which can be observed in the valley beds (Soils,viewed:15/10/2016). 

Figure 3: Deforestation on the island of Crete caused by early Minoans.
http://www.dilos.com/region/crete/countryside_of_crete.html

 Geology of the Area

The Minoans created their civilisation on an island in the center of the Mediterranean (Ancient-Greece, 2002). The formation of the Crete island was first majorly influenced by the impact of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate. This not only formed the Himalayans as I've discussed in a previous post, but it also started a chain reaction which ultimately caused the formation of Dinarotauric Arrow (My Crete Guide, 2009). This mountainous arrow is a range that runs along the Haemus and crosses through Greek territory. At this time, about 50 Mya, Crete was submerged at the center of this arc (My Crete Guide, 2009).   Around 20 Mya, all the plates around this area decided to change things up a bit. The African Plate started colliding with the Asian Plate and 15 Mya later the Arab and Asia continent merged together,  trapping the Tethys Sea between the three continents and forming the Mediterranean (My Crete Guide, 2009). While this was all happening, Crete along with the rest of the islands popped up into the sun to form the modern coastline of Greece. During this journey, Crete split away from minor Asia to form the mountainous island we know today. The islands around Greece are mostly volcanic with an average composition of andesitic rocks, which make up the Aegean Volcanic Arc. This was formed due to the subduction of the African Plate under the Aegean area (Milos Travel, 1999). 

Hydrology of Minoan Culture

The modern climate on the island of Crete shows around 500mm of rainfall per year. Scientists are struggling with the paleoclimate of the Minoans time but they believe there was a cycle of long cold humid periods followed by warm and dry ones (Angelakis et al, 2006). In the same paper Angelakis et all (2006) states; "The Minoan hydrologists and engineers were aware of some of the basic principles of what we call today principles and practices of water sciences with emphasis on the construction and operation of aqueducts. The description of several of the Minoan aqueducts could justify that Minoans could be considered as pioneers in those technologies." Which is interesting because only the Romans are well known for their aqueducts. The Minoans aqueducts were used for water supply in the palaces and for the wider populous in the cities. The water was transported in these aqueducts through closed or open terracotta pipes (Angelakis et al, 2006). They also had to be well engineered due to the mountainous environment. The Minoans also used wells throughout their cities, which were mainly used for baths. The water collected via various methods, aqueducts cisterns and wells that connected to springs (shown in figure 4), were used for water supply, sewerage systems, irrigation, and drainage systems. These had to be well built and designed for the growing population (Angelakis and Koutsoyiannis, 2003).

Figure 4: Well fed by a spring located near one of the palaces in Zakros (Angelakis and Koutsoyiannis, 2003).

 Demise of the Minoan Culture 

There are two possible events that went down that lead to the downfall of the Minoans. The first one is the Thera eruption on Santorini Island. The eruption of the Santorini volcano and the demise of the Minoan culture almost coincide around 3,500 years ago (Archaeology et al, 14/10/16). In 1939, this theory was suggested as Thera caused havoc throughout a large portion of the world so why not the Minoans which were geographically right next to it? This theory suggests that earthquakes destroyed the palaces, tsunamis took out the fleet plus the Minoans, and volcanic ash covered the entire island ruining crops and suffocating animals (Ancient-Greece, 2002). This agrees with further research done by Hendrik Bruins who found some soil samples. These showed sea microorganisms such as; foraminifera, tiny marine organisms and coralline algae which are usually found only in marine environments. This was then found in the same area as stone, pottery and volcanic ash (Archaeology et al, 14/10/16).
One of the few problems with this theory is that studies of the Greenland ice sheet have found Thera ash deposits that have dated back to 1645 BC, which was 150 years before the demise of the Minoans (Ancient-Greece, 2002). This evidence which was collated in 1987, really has blown the roof off this theory, all puns intended.
In saying this, the eruption 150 years before the demise of the Minoan could have affected them greatly. Coupled with the effects of climate change, this could have finished them off. 
The other theory widely suggested and accepted is that after the eruption, the Minoans were invaded by the Mycenaeans which were essentially their cousins. That's a bit of a bitter betrayal if you ask me. The Mycenaeans originated on mainland Greece and were greatly influenced by the culture across the water (recall the beautiful google maps figure). The issue with this is that if the Minoans were greatly affected by the volcanic eruption how did the Mycenaeans escape the effects to then have the ability and resources to invade? (Ancient-Greece, 2002).
Therefore, there is still much speculation as to why  and how the Minoans came to their end but let's be fair, they had a pretty good reign for 1600 years. 
  

References

Ancient-Greece.org, 2002, History of Minoan Crete, viewed: 15/10/2106, http://ancient-greece.org/history/minoan.html

Angelakis, A.N, Koutsoyiannis, D., 2003, 'Urban Water Engineering and Management in Ancient
Greece', Encyclopedia of water science, DOI: 10.1081/E-EWS 120010076, pg 999-1007. 

Angelakis, A.N, Savvakis, Y.M, Charalampakis, G., 2006, 'Minoan Aqueducts: A Pioneering Technology', International Symposium on Water and Wastewater Technologies in Ancient Civilizations, pg 423-430.

Archaeology, Mythology and History of Crete, Destruction of the Minoan Civilization, viewed: 14/10/2016, http://www.explorecrete.com/archaeology/minoan-civilization-destruction.html

Cartwright, M., (Ancient History Encyclopedia), Minoan Civilization, 2009, viewed: 15/10/2016, http://www.ancient.eu/Minoan_Civilization/

Dilos Holiday World, 1995, Countryside of Crete, viewed: 15/10/2016 http://www.dilos.com/region/crete/countryside_of_crete.html 

Milos Travel.com, 1999, Milos island geology, viewed: 15/10/2016, http://www.milostravel.com/geology.asp

My Crete Guide, 2009, Cretes Geology: How was It Formed?, viewed: 15/10/2016, http://www.cretanbeaches.com/en/facts/geology-of-crete

Pintrest, Concept Art, 15/10/2016, https://nz.pinterest.com/poonchunyau/concept-art/

Soils, viewed:15/10/2016, http://www.fhw.gr/chronos/02/crete/en/naturalenvironment/soils.html

Bibliography and Recommended Readings

http://www.fhw.gr/chronos/02/crete/en/naturalenvironment/soils.html
-This website goes on to talk about the soil types in Crete and other areas around Greece.
http://www.a-angelakis.gr/files/books/2002Encycl2WatResTechAncGreEntry1.pdf
http://www.a-angelakis.gr/files/4%20FR9.pdf

Ancient Rome

Ancient Roman Aqueduct called Les Ferreres, which brought water to the city of Tarraco.
(Rome Across Europe, 2015)

The colonialism 'when in Rome do as the Romans' has never had more meaning than when referring to a modern society, as all other civilisations caught up to their technological expertise. The Romans worked on the theory of being able to build a city anywhere and moving the water to the city, instead of building a city around a water source which was a common method around this time. From early on it was clear to see that by embracing the Roman water movement methods, mankind was no longer bound to places close to a water source. The Romans were well ahead of their time in both the complexities of their cultural uses of water and their water moving techniques. This method produced many advantages for them, including a lesser spread of disease in major cities as waste was being transported out while fresh water was being brought in, making contamination of drinking water reduce significantly.

Geology Of The Area

The geology of Rome is relatively simple. The earliest rock exposed is the deposit of the receding Pliocene seas.  This process was interrupted around 700 thousand years ago when there was a burst of volcanic eruptions in the north and the south causing a layer of volcanic ash. This volcanism occurred for some time and finally concluded down to minor ash eruptions up until as late as 4000 years ago. Near the end of the volcanism, modern topography was formed due to fluvial erosion cutting through the soft volcanic ash deposits (Thomas, 1989).
The topography of Rome has been highly altered by man also. This is because of refuse and rubble infill and downcutting of higher elevations (Thomas, 1989). In other words, people have constructed the topography to suit their needs. This method is expensive in Rome and tends to have lesser foundation problems because of it (Thomas, 1989). 

How The Hydrosphere Was Influenced

In ancient times groundwater and water from the Tiber River were utilised for water management purposes. It became very polluted therefore the invention of aqueducts was essential to the growth of Rome.  They built aqueducts like the top picture of figure 2 to help bring a constant, reliable water source to their cities. What the figure leaves out, however, is that once the water reached the city, it would go into reservoirs where it would be treated by either mixing it with other water sources or putting it in settling ponds. These aqueducts would transport the water from karst environments, with the hopes of improving the quality of the water. Within the aqueducts, there were settling ponds where the sediment that was collected during the travel, could float down to the bottom and get separated from the water. Even with this process, most of the water from early aqueducts were dirty as hell but usually after massive rainfall events. This dirty water was not wasted, however, and used to be used for irrigational purposes and agriculture. It wasn't until emperor Caligula began the construction of the 38 mile Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus, did the water quality improve to the point of mostly becoming a drinkable source (Crystalinks, 12/10/16). West of the Tiber, high-quality water was only supplied when emperor Trajan built the Aqua Traiana that transported water from around Lake Bracciano (Crystalinks, 12/10/16). By late 300 AD, Rome was being supplied by 11 aqueducts (Crystalinks, 12/10/16). 

What's interesting was the fact that the Tiber was primarily used for transporting goods in and out of Rome. It also meant that the Romans could build their city further away from the coastline, which reduced the odds of successful invasions and raids (Hansen, 12/10/16). The Romans had a lot of problems with the Tiber however. Floods produced by the Tiber eventually led the Romans to built embankments along the entire length of the river in the city. Not surprising, they went with this method instead of diverting the course of the river due to its simplicity and cost-effectiveness (Aldrete, 2007).

Figure 2: Picture of basic Roman Aqueduct structure
(Crystalinks, 12/10/16)

The Effect Of Ancient Rome On Modern Hydrology

In some places, parts of these ancient aqueducts are still in use while others can be visited as historical sites. There haven't really been too many effects of ancient Rome on modern Rome as they keep updating the infrastructure. This means they will have modern structures of aqueducts such as the bottom picture in figure 2 but the principles are all the same. They also have treatment plants to purify the water which has come from the advancement in technology and our understanding of microbes.
There have also been a few implications around ancient mining as there was a big trade market around the gold, silver and lead in Rome. The silver was mainly used for money, the lead was used for making bronze and for the construction of pipes, and the gold was used for jewellery and for trading  (Facts and Details, 2012). The mining had the effect of pollution, deforestation and the general erosion of the surrounding landscape. 

REFERENCES

Aldrete, G.S., 2007, 'Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome', The John's Hopkins University Press, 234-238.

Crystalinks, Ancient Roman Aqueducts, viewed: 12/10/2016, http://www.crystalinks.com/romeaqueducts.html

Facts and Details, 2012, Mining and Resources in Ancient Rome, viewed: 13/10/2016, http://factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub369/item2050.html

Hansen, R.D., Water And Wastewater Systems In Imperial Rome, viewed: 12/10/2016, http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/rome/

Rome Across Europe, 2015, Les Ferreres Aqueduct, viewed: 13/10/2016, http://www.romeacrosseurope.com/?paged=3&m=201512#sthash.a43yOqQd.dpbs

Thomas, R.G., 1989, 'Geology of Rome, Italy', GeoScienceWorld, DOI:10.2113/gseegeosci.xxvi.4.415

Bibliography and Recommended Reading

http://eeg.geoscienceworld.org/content/xxvi/4/415

https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=vL2ntMk7j-4C&pg=PA249&lpg=PA249&dq=what+implications+has+ancient+rome+had+on+modern+rome+hydrology&source=bl&ots=caP_tosgw3&sig=RRVQX9mXpcoJdOm2nAtUmrUuff0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiTvMagxt3PAhWKHZQKHU9CDvgQ6AEIMDAD#v=onepage&q=what%20implications%20has%20ancient%20rome%20had%20on%20modern%20rome%20hydrology&f=false

http://history.columbia.edu/faculty/PDFs/Harris-deforestation%20--offprint.pdf

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440314002623