Posted on 10/08/2012 9:33:10 PM PDT by ExxonPatrolUs
Millions of pounds of unexploded bombs and other military ordnance that were dumped decades ago in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as off the coasts of both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, could now pose serious threats to shipping lanes and the 4,000 oil and gas rigs in the Gulf, warns two Texas A&M University oceanographers. William Bryant and Neil Slowey, professors of oceanography who have more than 90 years of combined research experience in all of the Earth's oceans, along with fellow researcher Mike Kemp of Washington, D.C., say millions of pounds of bombs are scattered over the Gulf of Mexico and also off the coasts of at least 16 states, from New Jersey to Hawaii. Bryant says the discarded bombs are hardly a secret. "This has been well known for decades by many people in marine science and oceanography," he explains. "This subject has been very well documented through the years," Bryant explains. "My first thought when I saw the news reports of the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf two years ago were, 'Oh my gosh, I wonder if some of the bombs down there are to blame.'"
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Dr lew, I missed the size of the bomb in the photo.Please disregard the post.
Sounds like someone is looking to fund an effort to eradicate cat juggling, from a scene of “The Jerk”.
Ok, lets assume for a moment that these bombs are still able to explode.
Here are questions I want to know:
1. What could cause them to explode? Is Spontaneous explosion possible? Doesn’t water (from a rust leak) effectively render the explosives or mustard gas ineffective?
2.Do trawlers drag the bottom and if they do, isn’t the trawl way behind the ship due to the depth necessary to reach the sea floor?
3. How deep are they and what kind of damage could a bomb exploding 100’ or more deep on the sea floor actually do to a surface ship.
4. Wouldn’t any surface damage be dependent upon something like a ship actually being directly over the bomb at the time it exploded.
5. What would be the cost of a grant to study the problem?
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