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Hot Water, Hot Earth
Calopteryx notes a New Scientist article on the discovery of "supercritical" water emerging from a vent in the Atlantic Ocean at 407 deg. C (765 deg. F). One of its discoverers actually said, "It's water, but not as we know it"; it's the hottest water ever found on earth. The cause seems to be a huge bubble of magma beneath the ocean floor, 3 km below the sea surface. Meanwhile Nymz shares a journal entry on a hot spot on land: a 2-acre patch in Ventura county, in California, that has heated up to 433 deg. C (812 deg. F). Here geologists blame buried hydrocarbons burning as they get access to air through cracks in the ground. That high temperature was measured a foot below the ground surface.
I think I saw a special about black smokers on TV, I believe they were discovered in 1977 and I remember watching an interview of miniature sub (Alvin) pilot explaining that his temperature sensor melted when they came upon one of them and he decided to get a reading. If I recall the anecdote correctly, they were slowly drifting toward it as his friend explained to him that the hull of their craft was made of the same metal as the thermometer. He then very carefully began to operate the propellers in reverse.
I think it was even back then that speculation began of life starting around this geothermal energy. That these minerals only populated the sea and made for nutrient rich sea water in which life could propagate.
The only news here is that the 400 ÂC has been passed on record. I think everyone knew these could get insanely hot.
My work here is dung.
Does this mean that global warming is not caused by Al Queda? Or that Al Bore's coal company is not to blame either? How will Nancy Pelosi save the Earth Now?
Eviscerate the Proletariat!
Everything you need to know about oil well fires. http://www.redadair.com/
Never argue with a man carrying a water buffalo
I remember seeing on Discovery Channel (?) years ago a show where they wrapped a chicken in aluminum foil, poured lava on it, let it sit for a fairly normal cooking time, and cracked the shell open. Supposedly the chicken was delicious and super juicy. That California site might be a good place for a good old-new-fashioned underground pig roast.
Buy an electric car TODAY people! That petrol is causing the ocean to heat up... Wait, what? Magma? Really? Wasn't that around before we invented cars?
Hang on folks, I'll have to get back to you...
Don't worry. Al Gore will find a way to blame this on humans and CO2.
Vent and Seep Communities on the Arctic Seafloor
http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/essay_vogt.html
Boiling Hot Water Found in Frigid Arctic Sea
http://www.livescience.com/environment/080724-black-smokers.html
"Many miles inside the Arctic Circle, scientists have found elusive vents of scalding liquid rising out of the seafloor at temperatures that are more than twice the boiling point of water."
"The cluster of five hydrothermal vents, also called black smokers, were discovered farther north than any others previously identified. The vents, one of which towers four stories high, are located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Greenland and Norway, more than 120 miles farther north than other known vents."
You're making two HUGE assumptions. One, that it acts like a scale (which is somewhat plausible), and two, that nature won't add to the 100 pound weight. Or subtract from the gold. Or move some of the gold off the scale. Or... you get my drift.
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
Exceeding 800 by how much? Temperatures 6 feet under the roads in Centralia PA have been recorded at 853F. The town is abandoned and the roads are detoured around. A coal mine underground has been burning for decades.
http://www.offroaders.com/album/centralia/Johnathan_F_Beltz.htm
Luckily PA isn't as prone to forest fires, but living on top of a giant Weber grill does tend to lower your property values.
It's banana leaves or the like, which might burn up, but will protect the chicken. When Alton Brown did a ./ interview, he was asked about that and denied it was possible. However, lava isn't a very good heat conductor and you scoop out lava so it works.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
I don't know where to post in this thread to help everyone who needs it, but here is the first result from a google search for "water phase diagram".
Phase diagrams are extremely helpful. That red dot in the upper right area is the "critical point", and the dashed phase line is meant to convey that the difference between the phases in no longer meaningful.
The way that many of us were taught about the phases of matter is way too simplistic. "Solid-Liquid-Gas" isn't very helpful once you leave the realm of everyday human experience. If you aren't a physicist, you'll probably have to consult a phase diagram. Intuition is pretty useless.
Yep. I saw this on Macgyver once. It apparently worked because it used up all the oxygen.
Explosives won't use up any oxygen since they contain their own oxidiser. The shock wave will, however, remove the fuel/air mix from the vicinity in much the same way as you blow out a candle.
http://blog.nexusuk.org