Why the Island is Under Water
My theory is that the deposit of electromagnetic material at the swan station causes a repelling action with the bottom of the sea floor which makes the island buoyant. Similar to the repelling action you get when you push two North ends of a magnet towards each other. When the bomb detonated, it destroyed this deposit of magnetic material, severed the connection, and the island sank. Since the bomb detonated at a fairly deep distance below the ground, very little damage was done to structures on the island’s surface.  Which is why the Dharma buildings, 4-toed statue, etc. still appeared to be intact.Â
I could get on board with this. The bomb detonating certainly wouldn’t have sunk the island. i’m actually pretty sure islands don’t “sink”. I’d say it’s either something along the lines of your idea, or maybe the Volcano. I guess if a Volcano erupted violently enough???
Im in the volcano camp. But thats a real good shout.
if it is a volcano, the lava missed a lot of opportunities to destroy everything. statue, the soundwave gates, dharma houses, etc
ah, good point cliff87.
perhaps its just a little wink and a nod to the whole “the island is Atlantis” theories!
Im not saying it is Atlantis but when i think of Atlantis i think of greek temples still standing at the bottom of the ocean….just like the four toed statue was depicted!
I believe i can answer this one:
When the H-bomb went off, it allowed for the pocket of energy that causes time travel to spread not only to the island, but to the entire world.
Thus, the reality we see with the island under water is actually because the world was sent into the future. Thus, the island was, over a long time, taken underwater.
I’m 100% sure this is right.
It’s like i’ve always said.
It’s a submersable SPACESHIP!
Now that has to be more likely an answer than volcano.
What do you think the ocean floor rises 3 miles to support this island every place and time it moves??
Lol, come on people! Use your heads!
I like the energy repulsion idea. but i suspect the bomb going off was part of the original timeline.
the bomb not blowing up would be part of the alternate timeline.
im guessing that when they didnt blow up the bomb, the electromagnetism continued to pull everything. but eventually it got so strong, that it started pulling the whole island down (theres iron and stuff in the ground)
Lindelof and Cuse said that a character this season would pose the question “What is the island”, so we should be thinking along those lines. Hmmmm…
To quote my husband, who watched his first episode of Lost with me last Tuesday, and who has a master’s in physics: “What makes you think the island WOULDN’T sink if someone set off a hydrogen bomb?”
I tried a few arguments that I thought were logical, but he’s a smart cookie, and he doesn’t know the backstory, and…he usually wins.
But I like this theory better! I’m going to share it with him.
Immediately upon seeing it, I thought “Atlantis”. Unfortunately, that was the only scene with it under water. Clearly in both time lines, it is not Underwater (yet?). So does it go under later? Earlier? Inbetween?
I am going to have to slow motion that scene again and look for clues… even if there isnt any dang it! :-). It just seems to be there for a reason.
Guess its time to dust off the “Lost City of Atlantis” books.
With Lost never assume anything. Did the bomb have anything to do with the island being underwater, or are the two events completely unrelated? I am sure there will be an episode explaining what happened the moment the timelines split.