The Inversion of Elements Hypothesis

In the heavenly aspect, the upper realm is comprised of fire and air, whereas the lower is comprised of water and matter. The region between these two is the realm of the mediaries, both good and evil. Snakes and crabs are capable of 'skimming' on top of water, making them ideotypes of intermediaries. As such, we find mention of serpents and crabs throughout ancient writings playing out just such a role. The sign Cancer denotes the Summer Solstice, when the sun is in all its glory and the most high interacts with mankind, whereas at the Winter Solstice (Capricorn - a mythological amphibious creature), the dying sun is entombed. Then we have the snake in the Garden of Eden, comets regarded as serpents in meso-America, the Hydra constellation giving rise to the Herut/ Herod mythology in Egyptian and Christian tradition, etc.  

Heaven as the realm above the earth and sea

The Great Flood, barques in the desert and Saharan Atlantis.

At the end of the Ice Age, the earth was obviously warming up. Whereas up until that time, mankind would have centralized around the equator, once the sun became warmer, mankind would have spread out.

Likewise, as time goes by, once-fertile lands would have fallen prey to less fertile lands: deserts encroach. Low lying and coastal areas would have likewise fallen prey to rising oceans as thawing took place.

• Sea levels would rise, causing flooding in some areas 
• Deserts would grow, encroaching on fertile regions
• The climate would become more extreme as the oceans grow larger from thawing. 
• Humanity would away from the equator 

Earth (Matter) and Sea (Water) can be interchanged, as both refer to the lower realm.

The Great Flood was a sandstorm (haboob).