Cold War Nuclear Bomb Test Materials Pollute Deepest Ocean Trenches

1
1096
The first test of a thermonuclear weapon, or a hydrogen bomb, codenamed Ivy Mike and conducted by the United States in 1952 over the island of Elugelab in Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. (Public Domain)

Particles From Cold War Nuclear Bomb Tests Found in Deepest Parts of the Ocean

By Christopher Crockett Smithsonian.com

No place on Earth is free from human influence—not even the bottom of the deepest trenches in the ocean.

Shrimp-like critters from three West Pacific ocean trenches were found to munch on food that sinks down from the surface, leaving a unique chemical signature from decades-old nuclear bomb tests in the bodies of the deep-sea crustaceans. The findings, published recently in Geophysical Research Letters, not only help marine scientists figure out how these bottom dwellers survive, but also underscore the depths to which humanity’s influence can penetrate.



Deep ocean trenches may be among the least explored nooks on Earth. The deepest of these, the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, reaches down to about 36,000 feet below sea-level. (Mt. Everest could sit at the bottom, and its summit would still lie beneath more than a mile of water.) At the bottom, temperatures hover just above freezing and the water exerts a pressure more than 1,000 times that felt at the surface.

“Biologically, [ocean] trenches are taken to be the most pristine habitats on Earth,” says Weidong Sun, a geochemist at the Institute of Oceanology in China and coauthor of the new study. “We are interested in how life survives down there, what’s its food source, and whether human activities have any influence.”

Read more:

ATTENTION READERS

We See The World From All Sides and Want YOU To Be Fully Informed
In fact, intentional disinformation is a disgraceful scourge in media today. So to assuage any possible errant incorrect information posted herein, we strongly encourage you to seek corroboration from other non-VT sources before forming an educated opinion.

About VT - Policies & Disclosures - Comment Policy
Due to the nature of uncensored content posted by VT's fully independent international writers, VT cannot guarantee absolute validity. All content is owned by the author exclusively. Expressed opinions are NOT necessarily the views of VT, other authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors, partners, or technicians. Some content may be satirical in nature. All images are the full responsibility of the article author and NOT VT.

1 COMMENT

  1. “It came from beneath the sea” . This radiation was predicted by every B Movie in the 50’s.

Comments are closed.