Ancient Exploding Cannonballs

Planetes writes "There is a story on MSNBC about some surprise archaeology. Apparently, cannonballs from shipwrecks are "exploding" (more like heating up and cracking open) when they are exposed to air. At least one reacted so violently it reached several hundred degrees. Talk about a booby trap. I'd never have seen this one coming." Heat from oxidation (that's "rusting", if you haven't taken chemistry) has started many fires in cargo ships carrying iron.

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Rust at work

[R2.0]

There's a road in the northwest that was closed because it was effecively on fire. The state specified ground-up tires be used in the fill under the road in an eco-friendly gesture. Groundwater started the steel belts in the fill rusting, the heat started the rubber burning, and now smoke is coming out of the ground.