Tunesmith is right on target. Archeologists and Oceanographers have studied the Persian Gulf north of the Strait of Hormuz and find evidence of settlements that were submerged after the glacial debris that had piled up at Hormuz eroded through and allowed water to rush into the marshy lowlands. I imagine the effect was rather the reverse of the draining of Lake Bonneville down the now Snake River (leaving behind the Great Salt Lake). Water moves into areas and floods (and becomes the thing of epic stories, like Noah's Arc) or it opens up regions (like scouring huge valleys and now-dry waterfalls in the Columbia River basin). Science often comes along and fills in the gaps where imagination and religion filled the void until the truth was discovered.

SRS