Noah’s Flood: A Localized Catastrophe in the Persian Gulf
I have come to believe that the location of Eden along with the geographical extent of Noah's flood was situated within the Persian Gulf Oasis, in the Arabian Peninsula region. It's a region that was occupied by early humans during the late Pleistocene between ~70,000 years ago and ~13,000 years ago (the end of the last ice age and hence the advent of the Holocene). My YouTube presentation goes into much further detail. However, here's a summary of the data. The peer-review information I have gathered are from published academic journals within anthropology and the physical sciences (no religious bias was involved, just the raw data of the biblical account and science).
First, we need to note that Genesis 1 details for us chronologically the natural history of Earth. Our current geological research has developed an extremely detailed tectonic profile showcasing relatively fixed shorelines, where the oceans will never again cover the entire Earth, as was initially the case in the early stages of the planet’s formation ~3.8 billion years ago. Evidence for this is via Osmium isotope analysis where landmasses occur in pulsed states, affirming that the Earth will never undergo a global deluge, and all of this is also in accordance with Psalm 104:6-9. A 2007 paper highlighted this, and another 2009 paper also showcases evidence that the Earth first had a ~1 km deep global ocean.
Second, the fascinating Zanclean deluge that occurred 5.3 million years ago, was the refilling of the entire Mediterranean basin with an influx of 100 million cubic meters of water per second, from the Atlantic! This flood was obviously a lot bigger than Noah’s localized flood within the Persian Gulf Oasis.
Most important is to note the directional pathway pattern of the Zanclean flood water, especially as it runs off into the Persian Gulf area (because that area is low-lying compared to the Arabian and Armenian mountains on either side).
Third, what are the migration patterns of humans, because in what location are the events of Genesis 6-9? If Noah's flood was global, then that would not account for the fact that we already have established in Genesis 2 a specific location for these particular humans located in the Persian Gulf Oasis. There’s evidence for their existence as far back as ~70,000 years ago. Thus, Genesis 1 is speaking of pre-Adamic humans that multiply into a large enough population to "fill the Earth."
These humans migrate north-east out of Africa, and as seen in Genesis 2, they arrive into the Arabian peninsula, where specific geographical markers are given with the mention of four rivers. Using anthropological and archaeological studies, as well as geological data (to pinpoint the rivers Pishon and Gihon), Eden is located at the head of the once dry Persian Gulf. A 2010 paper highlights this information.
Therefore, Noah and the flood would have occurred ~13,000 years ago, near the end of the Holocene in this region. This is highlighted most importantly in a 2015 paper, where instead of a gradual rise of water during the end of the Holocene, as was once believed, now there’s evidence that it was a sudden flooding within a span of 1 year, as Genesis 7-8 illustrates:
Fourth, a 1971 paper highlights the ancient Near-Eastern context of the "mountains of El", where the details given in Genesis 6 (including the context of the Nephilim) can pinpoint the geographical landing location of Noah's Ark (thus again affirming the size of the flood), around the region of Mount Judi (in the red circle below), much further south from Ararat, and hence much closer to that Edenic geography as established in the earlier points.
Fifth, with respect to the species that experienced this deluge ~13,000 years ago, a 2016 paper highlights a direct proportion with the list of species mentioned in Genesis and Job, that would have interacted with Noah (thus no inclusion of polar bears, emperor penguins, or dinosaurs). The possible species that would have been on the Ark include:
1. The Lion (Job 38:39-40)
2. The Raven (Job 38:41)
3. The Goat (Job 39:1-4)
4. The Deer (Job 39:1-4)
5. The Donkey (Job 39:5-8)
6. The Wild Ox (Job 39:9-12)
7. The Ostrich (Job 39:13-18)
8. The Horse (Job 39:19-25)
9. The Hawk (Job 39:26-30)
10. The Eagle (Job 39:26-30)
Finally, the language of "all the earth" or "all the heavens" written by the original authors actually didn't have any form of global understanding, since not only was it localized from the evidence above, but authors like Peter saw the flood as local too (in 2 Peter 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:6, using the specific Greek word tote to qualify his usage of the word kosmos).