Effects of Volcanic Activitiy to ships??!!

Discussion in 'All Things Boats & Boating' started by Mariner10, Mar 22, 2009.

  1. Mariner10
    Joined: Mar 2009
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    Mariner10 Sailor

    Does anyone know, when a ship floats on the water during a volcanic activity...does it causes any instability to the ship?

    does that volcanic activity causes changes to the buoyancy of water to the ship??
     
  2. marshmat
    Joined: Apr 2005
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    marshmat Senior Member

    Are you thinking of volcanic activity below the ocean surface- ie. subsurface eruptions, outgassings, etc.? Gas release from below the seafloor can certainly make things a bit hairy for anyone sailing above.... really deep magma flows, though, are surrounded by water at such high pressure that it can't flash into steam, it just gets superheated in liquid state, so those types of eruptions would likely have little effect on boats a few kilometres above.
     
  3. Mariner10
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    Mariner10 Sailor

    there was a big earthquake approximately around the Kermadec about NE of New Zealand..and the stories around the crew is that when there's oceanic activity below the ocean surface..the seawater around it would change the buoyancy of the sea water which i dont see happening unless it causes less density to sea water or cause instability to ship..???

    whats the real story behind this??!!
     
  4. jehardiman
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    jehardiman Senior Member

    Three things.

    1) Rising gasses are toxic and can kill the crew...happened off Japan many years ago.

    2) Rising gasses airate the water and the consequent loss of bouyancy capsizes/sinks the vessel...IIRC happened off a Montserrat(?) several years ago.

    3) Water gets a little hot and less dense, but all that would happen is a little sinkage and a lot of alarms in the engine room (over temps).

    Edit: Oh yeah, 4) floating pumice get injested into the seawater systems and really messes up your pumps.
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2009
  5. daiquiri
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    daiquiri Engineering and Design

    Translating what Jehardiman said at point 2 into a modern journalistic (and therefore catastrophic) language: The water below the ship becomes a mixture of water and gas - kind of foam, if you want.
    I don't even want to immagine a situation like that with me on board. That would probably be the second most stupid (though spectacular) way to die
     
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  6. Luckless
    Joined: Mar 2009
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    Luckless Senior Member

    You sir, (or ma'am) need a more complex boat to sail. You are having too much free time to think about odd ways to die.
     
  7. apex1

    apex1 Guest

    To the thread,
    I think there´s nothing to fear (altough some of the theories above are valid), except maybe that one of my favorite anchorages is gone with a bang.
     
  8. Mariner10
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    Mariner10 Sailor

    cheers for the opinion jehardiman..and daiquiri you definitely need more complex boat to design or sell..too much time in your hand to roam around gay shops..rofl!!!
     
  9. clmanges
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    clmanges Senior Member

    Big enough gas bubble -- you get to go see where it came from!
     
  10. Landlubber
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    Landlubber Senior Member

    I have sailed through acres of thick pummice in the South Pacific a few times, so would suspect it is not all that rare in fact, though I have also been struck by lightening, and certainly not many can still write about that.

    The most "interesting" occurrance of mine was in about 1992, a serious storm on the way from Brissy to Fiji, we were in very turbulant seas, lots of foam and froth, funny thing was that the boat (40foot steel) actually was floating at her gunwale, the bouyancy was lost to the aeration. Like that for a few hours, we were still sailing along, bare poles, no worries really, but she would sink down every so often, then pop back up to sort of normal. Not at all scary really, just interesting.
     
  11. alex folen
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    alex folen Flynpig

    Effects of underwater volcanic activity affect airplanes also. Same density issues affect the air medium, and O2 concentrations, detrimental to airplanes in the direct area as well.... Just figure I’d add that in also.
     
  12. daiquiri
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    daiquiri Engineering and Design

    I knew that would be the interpretation... My macho reputation has gone forever, dammit! :eek: :D
     

  13. masalai
    Joined: Oct 2007
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    masalai masalai

    It might have been just a "proposal"? - reject it and status-quo is retained (well yours anyway - having passed the innuendo on to the lonely gay?

    But We were talking oceanic farts - is that not also supposed to possibly be the cause of the reputation of the "Bermuda triangle?" in releasing methane from below the ocean floor....

    Aircraft are adversely affected by the ash (suffocating and clogging the air intakes etc), and high levels of other gasses (no oxygen) causing engine combustion to cease...

    As with most sailors, heightened sensitivity and wild imagination are synonymously associated with high levels of alcohol in the blood... and or long lonely days and nights making passage through the doldrums and first symptoms of "cabin fever"... :D:D:D:D
     
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