The Bible tells us of a global flood, due to a tremendous amount of extra water being dumped onto the earth, to the point of covering all of earth’s highest mountains (Genesis chapters 6-8). This additional water caused sea levels to sharply rise globally, and means that sea levels were lower prior to this global flood.

“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In [those] days before the flood, the were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So it will be [also] at the coming of the Son of Man”—Matthew 24:37-39 NAB

Archaeologists have discovered a 7,000-year-old burial site in the Gulf of Mexico after a tip from a recreational diver who found human remains at the site in 2016. More details can be read in this article.

The ancient burial site discovered off the southwest Florida coast lends credence to what we know from the Bible about the flood in Genesis 6-8. The article states that “sea levels were much lower during that time”, and then goes on to say that “sea levels rose”. How does this harmonize with the Biblical account of the global flood?

“All the springs of the great deep burst through, and the sluices of heaven opened. And heavy rain fell on earth for forty days and forty nights” (Genesis 7:11 NJB). A gigantic amount of water was somehow released upon the earth within a relatively short time. Psalm 104:6,7 possibly explains where the water came from: “You covered it (the earth) with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. But at your rebuke they fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight” (NIV). They were released at the start of the flood.

This global deluge resulted in “the water covered even the highest mountains on the earth, rising twenty-two feet above the highest peaks” (Genesis 7:19,20 NLT). As Psalm 104:8 explains: “they flowed over the mountains” (NIV). The mountains, as they existed prior to the flood, may have been lower than they were after the flood. Although after “the rain stopped falling . . . the water receded steadily” (Genesis 8:2,3 NIV), the 40 day rain resulted in the entire earth being flooded for about eight months. “Exactly five months from the time the flood began, the boat came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Two and a half months later, as the waters continued to go down, other mountain peaks became visible” (Genesis 8:4,5 NLT). During this time, the earth likely underwent tremendous “change” (Psalm 46:2 NASB), just as the 1980 Mt St Helens volcanic blast proved that radical changes to the earth can occur relatively quickly.

After almost a year “the water had dried up from the earth”, and after slightly over a year “the earth was completely dry” (Genesis 8:13,4 NIV). Where did all the water go? “Mountains rose and valleys sank to the levels you decreed”. (Psalm 104:8 NLT). The tremendous weight of water likely resulted in what Psalm 104:8 describes: “mountains rose and valleys sank” (NLT), thus carving out deeper canyons, valleys, and ocean beds and pushing up higher mountains.

The fact is that a tremendous amount of water was released upon the earth by the global deluge, ‘covering all the highest mountains, up to a depth of about 22 feet.’ The scientific discovery of “a 7,000-year-old burial site in the Gulf of Mexico” revealed that “sea levels were much lower during that time.” While the discovery doesn’t directly ‘prove the global flood,’ it certainly provides evidence in support of it

The main point that we can glean from this article, below, is that “sea levels were much lower” in the past than they are now, which is in harmony with the Biblical flood.