Bermuda Triangle

[Fanie]

Someone suggested that lage pockets of air or gass rises from the sea bed, when under a ship or boat it falls into the cavity and thus disappear, possibly by sinking.

Can this be true ?

[Kay9]

No...its been proven at Texas A&M in tank tests.

[Fanie]

Then what explanations could there be ?

Interesting, no multihuls under the missing ships.

[Kay9]

Its a body of water with a lot of shallows and lots of shipping. Statistically the "Triangle" has no more or less accidents then any other bodie of water with similar shipping volumes.

K9

[Fanie]

So there's no mystery... almost like flying soucers getting people to disappear...

[Kay9]

No more mystery then when someone dissappears in Aruba or New Mexico.

[charmc]

Originally Posted by Kay9

No...its been proven at Texas A&M in tank tests.

I haven't seen the report on the Texas A&M tests, but there have been other experiments which resulted in the floating object sinking when the bubbles lowered the average density of the fluid supporting the object. May & Monahan, Monash University (Australia), 2003; Denardo et al., American Journal of Physics, October 2001.


http://groups.msn.com/VonBraunPhyisc...63615020083139

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HT...interview/512/

It's certainly possible. As a practical matter, though, I wonder if a moving vessel wouldn't just pass out of the danger zone, unless the methane discharge covered a very large expanse of the surface.

[PAR]

Actually the area is riddled with methane vents, which do erupt, some times quite violently. It's not very likely that this is the cause of the Bermuda triangle thingie. In fact, the great lakes have more unaccountable ship and aircraft loses then the Bermuda triangle.

If a skipper was traveling along and saw a boiling patch of water off his bow (what a large methane discharge looks like), I'm reasonable confident he'd change course. Oil rigs have more to worry about in gas discharges then ships.

[Kay9]

Well Ive been looking all nite and I cant find online the study and tanktest I remember reading from A&M. I remember it was something like yes a lot of bubbles can sink a ship but it was highly unlikely as the ship would move through the affected area long before the effect could draw it under.

So I guess I will have to retract my earlier statement.

K9

[charmc]

Originally Posted by Kay9

something like yes a lot of bubbles can sink a ship but it was highly unlikely as the ship would move through the affected area long before the effect could draw it under.

So I guess I will have to retract my earlier statement.

K9

Au contraire, my friend. That's exactly what was said by me and by PAR. A ship underway would most likely pass through the vent or avoid it entirely. A blowout beneath a floating oil/gas rig would seem to be more of a danger, as they are anchored in place and can't easily move.

[safewalrus]

It has happened in the North Sea some years ago, can't remeber the name of the rig but some bubbles came up from the seabed, caused problems with the stability and the rig was evacuated!! 'Twas last century I know but when? (198?)

[PAR]

I seem to remember that too Walrus, the rig came down as a result. I think it was a gas pocket they drilled into and the pipe broke. Most rigs don't have rudders . . .

[marshmat]

In fact, the great lakes have more unaccountable ship and aircraft loses then the Bermuda triangle.

The Great Lakes certainly have more than their fair share of shipwrecks. I suspect part of this can be attributed to a very important difference in navigation styles and options between Great Lakes captains and ocean captains:

A ship in the ocean can become aware of an approaching storm days in advance, and will often go several hundred miles out of its way to avoid the worst hazards.

A ship on the Great Lakes has no reliable way of telling how bad a storm will be until a day, sometimes less, in advance. And if he goes twenty miles off course, he's on land.

From what I've heard, I suspect at least part of the latter case also applies to the Bermuda triangle.... the weather can become unpredictable in relatively short order, and there are a lot of potentially hazardous areas around.

[safewalrus]

Originally Posted by PAR

I seem to remember that too Walrus, the rig came down as a result. I think it was a gas pocket they drilled into and the pipe broke. Most rigs don't have rudders . . .

Especially when anchored to the seabed!!