Bombs in the Arctic?
I believe this to be complete nonsense. Please understand that.
Repeat: this is almost certainly complete nonsense.
However, I’ve been asked by someone to help publicise it and she’s a close friend who has climbed out on some precarious limbs for me in the past. I told her, though, that I intended to preface it with a massive disclaimer. So again… please take this with a bucket-load of salt.
Anyways, my friend received information from someone she knows (we’re deep into FOAF territory here) claiming that, over the course of two days last week, the US government detonated no less than nine nuclear bombs (each with a yield of approximately 5 megatons) on the floor of the Arctic Ocean. The purposes of these explosions was to punch a whole in the sea bed in order to access a massive deep-level oil field. The dates and co-ordinates she asked me to publish are as follows…
17 Nov 2008 12:55:23 (79.66N -116.86W)
17 Nov 2008 13:16:51 (79.70N -115.78W)
17 Nov 2008 13:40:11 (79.70N -115.36W)
17 Nov 2008 17:17:05 (79.70N -115.78W)
18 Nov 2008 03:59:49 (79.61N -114.76W)
18 Nov 2008 04:10:35 (79.76N -115.70W)
18 Nov 2008 04:52:51 (79.74N -115.32W)
18 Nov 2008 05:37:27 (79.75N -115.33W)
18 Nov 2008 07:05:12 (79.78N -114.69W)
Now, I know a fair amount about petrogeology and this story simply does not scan for me. Perhaps there were explosions but for a different reason? I don’t care to speculate, merely to pass on the information as requested.
UPDATE: I’ve just seen this posted to an energy resources mailing list I subscribe to. The first response began with the line: “This of course is nonsense.” Indeed. I shall be mercilessly taking the piss out of A about this.
Large explosions produce seismic waves. If the yanks had carried out such an insane act they wouldn’t have been able to hide it from the hundreds of seismic monitor stations around the world, many of which have websites displaying recent activity. Admittedly many are operated by or have links to the US but then thinking in conspiratorial circles is only a step away from dribbling and barking at passers-by.
November 25th, 2008 | 4:07pm
by punkscience
punkscience: The person who sent the data to my friend is a seismologist. The whole reason this has come to light is the fact that there was some extremely atypical seismic activity in the region. However, the activity was ‘atypical’ and not ‘unprecedented’ which is why I have my doubts.
November 25th, 2008 | 4:09pm
by Jim Bliss