[rengerts]

I watched the film 'The Abyss' recently and one of the main characters was sent to disarm a nuclear warhead that sank into the depths of an ocean trench.

What harm would have occurred if the nuclear warhead was allowed to explode at extreme depth?

[WertyNtont]

Very bad things...that's what would happen. Water doesn't absorb energy, rather it transfers it. So...probably tsunamis, maybe some earthquakes, maybe some new cracks in the earth's crust...stuff like that.

BTW, didn't we have a post like this not too long ago?

Edit: What do you know? It was you who asked a little while back. You're also the wacko asking about WiFi signals and bombs. WTF are you asking about this stuff for? [thumbdown]

[Anavaralo]

Its been years since i saw this movie but didnt they do it to save the aliens that were hiding in the deep waters ?

[lalpphilalk]

Very bad things...that's what would happen. Water doesn't absorb energy, rather it transfers it. So...probably tsunamis, maybe some earthquakes, maybe some new cracks in the earth's crust...stuff like that.

I dont think it would create earthquakes or new cracks in the crust

It most likely would have just been a giant explosion deep in the water

[Poohoppesmase]

Its been years since i saw this movie but didnt they do it to save the aliens that were hiding in the deep waters ?

No, one crazy bad guy with a mental illness sent the nuke down there cause he couldn't handle the though of ET the H20 edition.

[Feelundseenna]

I dont think it would create earthquakes or new cracks in the crust

It most likely would have just been a giant explosion deep in the water

Water is not compressable, so you are going to get some kind of movement, most likely a fairly substantial wave.

[lalpphilalk]

Water is not compressable, so you are going to get some kind of movement, most likely a fairly substantial wave.

Yes, of course, but earthquakes? Nah

[engideNedmupe]

Yes, of course, but earthquakes? Nah

Maybe not in the traditional tectonic sense, but the earth will shake!

[oranowdenda]

Now, say depending on the section of sea that it would be dropped, wouldn't the pressure start to crush the bomb, letting water get in, and destroying the electronics that fire the bomb?


Hasn't a modern ship been sunk yet that has a nuclear reactor for power?

[WertyNtont]

I dont think it would create earthquakes or new cracks in the crust

It most likely would have just been a giant explosion deep in the water

Depends on where it would be detonated and how powerful of an explosion. That's why there's a "maybe" before the earthquake or cracks part.

[Nundduedola]

Very bad things...that's what would happen. Water doesn't absorb energy, rather it transfers it. So...probably tsunamis, maybe some earthquakes, maybe some new cracks in the earth's crust...stuff like that.

BTW, didn't we have a post like this not too long ago?

Edit: What do you know? It was you who asked a little while back. You're also the wacko asking about WiFi signals and bombs. WTF are you asking about this stuff for? [thumbdown]

What are you taking about? of course water absorbs energy, its has enormous potential for absorbing energy.. boil a kettle (preferrably a good 2kw+ one) and see how quickly the water reaches boiling point. on another note If a nuke exploded deep under water the extremely high water pressure would dampen the explosion. depending on the pressure it could be 10 to a 100 times less powerfull.

if it was close enough to a coast the water displacement could cause a tsunami, if it was further away the surface tension of the water would dissipate the wave more the further it travels. Anything short of detonating one off the coast of a country wouldnt have much of an affect, except a lot of dead marine life, and a little wave in land which would dissipate once it hit the break water

[poRmawayncmop]

we've had this discussion.

it depends how powerful the bomb is.

the tsar bomba or what ever its called would.

but they've been testing nuclear bombs underwater for years.


anyhow I wouldn't worry too much about a single nuke going off Id be more worried about the millions of tonnes of WWII and other conflict defunct weaponry (inc biological) that been dumped off in the Atlantic in the trenches.


and there's been instances of nukes lost at sea that haven't exploded but never been recovered there's one off the coast of Portugal somewhere

[Dvjkefdw]

we've had this discussion.

We have indeed

and there's been instances of nukes lost at sea that haven't exploded but never been recovered there's one off the coast of Portugal somewhere You're thinking of the USS Scorpion - the US Navy knows where it is (but won't say publicly) and keep track of the nuke warheads' condition.

[WertyNtont]

What are you taking about? of course water absorbs energy, its has enormous potential for absorbing energy.. boil a kettle (preferrably a good 2kw+ one) and see how quickly the water reaches boiling point. on another note If a nuke exploded deep under water the extremely high water pressure would dampen the explosion. depending on the pressure it could be 10 to a 100 times less powerfull.

if it was close enough to a coast the water displacement could cause a tsunami, if it was further away the surface tension of the water would dissipate the wave more the further it travels. Anything short of detonating one off the coast of a country wouldnt have much of an affect, except a lot of dead marine life, and a little wave in land which would dissipate once it hit the break water

Should have said dampen, not absorb. In order to transfer it, of course water needs to absorb the energy.
Anyway, do you have any kind of idea how much pressure a nuclear blast creates? Bottom of the Marianas trench, around 15,000 psi. The Hiroshima explosion created a blast wave of 5 psi a mile away, and that's a very small device by today's standards. A few thousand psi might dampen it slightly, but not enough to stop a nice tsunami and wreak havoc.

[WertyNtont]

Double post.

[Andoror]

Should have said dampen, not absorb. In order to transfer it, of course water needs to absorb the energy.
Anyway, do you have any kind of idea how much pressure a nuclear blast creates? Bottom of the Marianas trench, around 15,000 psi. The Hiroshima explosion created a blast wave of 5 psi a mile away, and that's a very small device by today's standards. A few thousand psi might dampen it slightly, but not enough to stop a nice tsunami and wreak havoc.

i never really heard of an tsunami's wreaking havoc when the US and France and everyone else was doing underwater tests though...did you. Not to say there was not a blast wave, because there certainly were, but from some videos i have seen they were not a wide, tsunami like wave, but very short wave. And, only one, at that.


ok, so i just looked it up and the only tsunami ever pinned on a nuclear explosion was one by the french, something went wrong and the weapon exploded half way down the bore hole they had drilled into an atoll causeing an underwater landslide that formed the waves. So, barring a landslide or earthquake caused by the explosion, a nuclear weapon under water will not cause a tsunami.

[WertyNtont]

At what depths were the French testing at? I highly doubt it was a few miles down.

[Andoror]

At what depths were the French testing at? I highly doubt it was a few miles down.

1500 meters, so close to a mile.

[Haremporblape]

A nukes power is nothing compared to an earthquake..nothing at all.

The biggest concern would be from using a nuke to set off an earthquake in a weak area. The quake is what could cause the real damage and tsunamis.

Nukes are far less effective underwater, even at ground level, which is why they go off before hitting the ground.

[pouslytut]

A nukes power is nothing compared to an earthquake..nothing at all.

The tsar bomb is powerful enough to wipe out most/all of London (according to a documentary I watched) in one go and I somewhat doubt a decent sized Earthquake could do that.

And from the underwater nuke blasts I've seen on documentaries and youtube it will do nothing but create one big f*cking splash. or a kinda of mist which will simply have a long hang time and fall back down without causing any damage (unless you happen to be in the area then you'd probably die)