Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The Titanic sank because of unusually good sea conditions

A very interesting explanation of what brought the famous liner down:

Slide 1

There was no wind, and thus there were no waves.  It was a flat calm.  It was also a dark moonless night, which made it difficult to see an iceberg in the distance.  On such a night, waves would have made the iceberg more visible.  Even small waves would have caused a bright phosphorescent line around the base of the iceberg, due to the millions of dinoflagellates that migrate to the ocean surface at night.

These tiny plankton glow brightly even with the slightest disturbance.  (Sailors had seen this phosphorescence many times as they rowed through such waters, every stroke causing a glow that clearly outlined each oar.)  On that night there was not even a gentle swell that could have caused a phosphorescent line around the iceberg. 

More at OMG Facts.

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