Witch's Holes and Sea Farts

     According to Australian research, methane bubbles from the sea floor could, in theory, sink ships and may explain the odd disappearances of some vessels. On the other hand University College London oceanographer and physicist Helen Czerski explained that the theory, while theoretically possible, is poppycock.

     According to the Australian research huge bubbles of methane gas (sea farts) can erupt from undersea deposits of solid methane, known as gas hydrates.

     Methane is an odorless gas found in swamps and mines and it becomes an ice-like solid under the enormous pressure found on deep sea floors. If one of the deposits breaks off it becomes gaseous as it rises, creating bubbles at the surface. 

     David May and Joseph Monaghan of Monash University in Australia demonstrated how a giant bubble from one of these deposits could swamp a ship causing it to sink. 

     In sonar searches of the ocean floor in the North Sea they observed large quantities of methane and eruption sites and a recent survey revealed the presence of a sunken vessel within the center of one particularly large eruption site. The site is now known as the Witches Hole. 

     The sinking is attributed to the vessel's loss of buoyancy as the bubbles make the water less dense. When a chunk of methane breaks off, along the way to the surface it breaks up into tiny bubbles. As these tiny bubbles rush to the surface they drag water with them and the water's momentum as it whooshes up could technically tip capsize a ship floating on the surface. 

     According to Helen Czerski, this could only sink a ship if it was already heavily listed to one side. Then it would be possible for the methane bubbles to push the ship over and sink it. She pointed out that ships these days are built to prevent disturbances on the surface from tipping them over, so all that would happen is that the ship would be pushed to one side. 

     When it comes to the Bermuda Triangle some say it does not actually exist. The Bermuda Triangle is a region bordered by Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico and the deniers claim that there are no more unexplained plane crashes and shipwrecks in the area than anywhere else in the ocean. Thus the methane gas theory can be debunked as a cause of ships sinking in that region. 

     I also heard the explanation that one reason people have not survived going over Niagara Falls is that there are tiny air bubbles formed by the cascading water which makes it less dense and so people cannot swim in it and, also, whatever container they went over the Falls in would not float. Of course, eventually the momentum of the water spits them out and the come to the surface. 

     Water's ability to wash, soothe and nourish contrasts with its brute power as exhibited by Niagara Falls. Some of water's properties are so strange that they elude scientific understanding.

      For example, it's logical that it would take longer for hot water to drop to 32 degrees Fahrenheit and freeze than would cold water, but that's not always the case. Hot water actually freezes faster than cold water when the two bodies of water are exposed to the same subzero surroundings. There are theories, but nobody knows why. 

     Nobody has been able to determine why ice is slippery. Scientists agree that a thin layer of liquid water on top of solid ice causes its slipperiness and that makes it difficult to walk on. But, there's no consensus as to why ice, unlike most other solids, has such a layer. It's speculated that it may be caused by contact with the ice by a shoe, car tire, ice skate, etc.

     When there's a huge temperature gradient between water and the outside air and a pot of boiling water is thrown into air measuring minus 30 F, the boiling water will instantly turn to snow. The reason: When the water is thrown into the air there's more vapor being emitted than the air can hold, so the vapor forms crystals which is what snowflakes are.