Since the canal is fed from the two oceans it links together, how can it dry up? I am puzzled.
The Panama canal is fed from a series of lakes, which is why it has locks to raise and lower ships. The Suez canal is 100% sea level.
Me too, especially since the oceans are rising.
“Since the canal is fed from the two oceans it links together, how can it dry up? I am puzzled.”
Because, in order to traverse the canal, you would have to get all that ocean water 85 feet above sea level.
Since the canal is fed from the two oceans it links together, how can it dry up? I am puzzled.
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Two ‘rising’ oceans, right?
The seas are rising. And also drying up. And it’s all your fault.
Elevation.
My question as well, though I understand the canal is 50 miles long, they may have relied on rains to supply water in between.
Now, to ensure stability, they many want to consider installing a pump system or....wait for it...a viaduct from the mountains of Panama where they will have a continual supply of water with little energy resource required to deliver to the canal
The Panama canal is not fed from two oceans. The ships have to be lifted through the locks to lake Gatun, then lowered through the locks on the other side. The whole canal is powered with water stored in manmade reservoirs/lakes.
The Chinese helped the Panamanians build a third, much larger, set of locks, to handle much larger ships.
The American engineers always said they doubted the ability of the rainfall to support a third set of locks.
If it were easy to set up more lakes to power the canal, it probably would have been done by the 1990's
I find that amazing also since global warming should cause the seas to rise, if anything they should have more water unless the seas are dropping
Rising sea levels caused by melting ice caps. Oh, wait....
The lock system is feed by lake waters. That is not seawater in the lock system. The vessels must be lifted about 85 feet to traverse Panama. The Lakes are higher than the canal and their water is feed into the locks to lift the vessels threw the lock system.
Lake Gatun is at the high points. Fed by rain Forrest rains. It’s fresh water and water is allowed to fall into the locks by gravity
It uses a lake or three for navigation between the two oceans and the ships must be raised and lowered to the different levels. But it’s not global warming.
Since the canal is fed from the two oceans it links together, how can it dry up? I am puzzled.
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The “ lifting water” from a huge local lake supplies water to do the lifting of ships as they transit, something like that.
Quick answer, it isn't.
Both ends are lower than the middle. So water flows out, not in.
In any event, the question is whether the ChiComs are doing this intentionally.
“Since the canal is fed from the two oceans it links together, how can it dry up? I am puzzled.”
the canal itself doesn’t dry up ... what dries up are the high-mountain reservoirs used to feed water to the series of canal locks that float the boats up and down over the mountains that cut through the middle of the panama ithimus ...
Ships crossing the Isthmus of Panama are raised high above sea level by a series of locks, and then lowered back. Rainwater refreshes Gatun Lake. In fact, a good part of the passage is through the lake itself. It would be possible to dig a sea level canal through Nicaragua, but it would be considerably longer.
Indeed. This doesn't even make sense.
You go over higher lands with rain and springs feeding those high grounds thus the lifts.
If ocean levels are ACTUALLY RISING because of global warming, it’s even more confusing.