Modern scholars suggest that some of the mines flooded because they had eventually been dug to a depth below sea level, while the majority of them, situated far from the sea, were probably exhausted.
Os estudosos modernos suxiren que algunhas das minas inundáronse debido a que finalmente excavouse a unha profundidade baixo o nivel do mar, mentres que a maioría deles, situadas lonxe do mar, foron probablemente esgotadas.