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CURRENTS and TIDES and SEABED MINING

CURRENTS AND TIDES AND SEABED MINING

Seabed mining may be more harmful than mining on land. This is because, in my view, the currents constantly move and any disturbance or spillage immediately spread, and may spread over a wide area. Let me tell you a a short real life story to illustrate my view and the power of currents in moving objects over long distances.

During the 1994  twin volcanic eruptions in Rabaul (ENB, Papua New Guinea) i escaped with my family from Rakotop village to my late grandfather's neighboring village Lungalunga. We took refuge there for months. We observed a lot of pumice floating by daily and many were washed ashore. Household items such as utensils and clothes floated by or were washed ashore together with the pumice. The currents carried these all the way from Rabaul town and neighboring areas to the North Coast.

Unlike used  or spilled oil from marine and other industrial engines, the pumice and most other household items do not pose any threat to the marine environment however far they may flow.

Google map shows New Britain Island

In order to understand the currents and tides in the Bismarck Archipelago i have decided to put together links here that provide information on the subject.

Currents in the Bismarck Sea and Kimbe Bay http://data.aims.gov.au/bismarck/Bismarck%20Sea%20and%20Kimbe%20Bay%20Currents.pdf
Currents in the Bismarck Sea and Kimbe Bay
Prepared for The Nature Conservancy by:
C.R. Steinberg, S.M. Choukroun, M.M. Slivkoff,
M.V. Mahoney & R.M. Brinkman
Australian Institute of Marine Science

About.Com Geography
About.Com Geography (http://geography.about.com/od/physicalgeography/a/oceancurrents.htm) includes information on global ocean currents, types, and causes of currents.

NOAA
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_currents/welcome.html
Provides a good discussion on the factors that drive ocean currents.

NASA
http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML/oceanography_currents_1.html
Ocean Planet begins clearly by saying Ocean waters are constantly on the move.


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Disclaimer

The blogger is not responsible for the content provided in these links. It is helping the searcher to locate information.


Comments

  1. Disclaimer

    Iam not responsible for the content in the links provided in my post. It is helping the reader to find further information on the subject.

    ReplyDelete

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