Binghamton University Professor of Anthropology Carl Lipo. Credit: Binghamton University, State University at New York
Posted on 10/12/2018 12:24:40 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
The process of coastal groundwater discharge makes it possible for humans to collect drinkable freshwater directly where it emerges at the coast of the island... "The porous volcanic soils quickly absorb rain, resulting in a lack of streams and rivers," Lipo said. "Fortunately, water beneath the ground flows downhill and ultimately exits the ground directly at the point at which the porous subterranean rock meets the ocean. When tides are low, this results in the flow of freshwater directly into the sea. Humans can thus take advantage of these sources of freshwater by capturing the water at these points." ...He said there are very few sources of freshwater on the island, including two lakes that are perilously difficult to access, no streams, and one spring that is often reduced to a wetland bog. Much of the opposition to the research of Lipo's team is the presence of taheta on the island, which are small, carved-out cisterns used for collecting rainfall. To refute this argument, Lipo's team explained that if collecting rainwater was extremely necessary to island survival, the cisterns would be much larger, instead of being able to hold only between two and four liters of water each. The team's research shows that the little amount of rainfall that Rapa Nui receives (1240 mm/yr), coupled with the basic evaporation rate of water in a climate such as the island's, means that on average, taheta could not be used as viable sources of drinking water 317 days out of the year... Lipo said the group's next project is to try to understand how closely the availability of freshwater in certain locations is linked to the methods and means of building the large statues on the island...
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
Binghamton University Professor of Anthropology Carl Lipo. Credit: Binghamton University, State University at New York
Interesting, but not much to connect statue construction with this practice, which btw has completely died out (assuming it had ever been done in the first place).
Pet rocks... Named Larry, Moe, and Curly
Bkmk
Interesting post. These guys need to next show several practical methods of collecting this brackish water.
(Nice to see research with no obvious political agenda, too.)
A visit to Easter Island is near the top of my Bucket List.
That’s using their heads.
manny, moe, and jack you mean
Easter Island (per wikipedia) was settled around 1200 AD. If the world was warmer during the Medieval Warm Period, that would have meant more evaporation, and more rain.
If, during the Little Ice Age, things got cooler, then that would have meant less rain.
Really? Its a miserable place. The locals are horribly interbred, high alcoholism rates, and they are prone to fights with one another. No beaches, not much sport fishing, one "hotel". There is a reason you don't see any ads for tourist visits to this place.
Don't go during Easter break, it's standing room only.......
I would waste my $$ on Guam or Palau instead of Easter Island.
Go SCUBA dive the Saratoga at Bikini Island. THATS A bucket list.
I would refer to Post #10.
They investigated the use of “subterranean rocks”. Scientific minds would like to know why they ignored a couple others.
How about “aerial rocks”? Another obvious source would be ‘imaginary rocks”.
And slightly higher water levels, as was the case in England and throughout Europe.
Waters’ Rocks, in Maxine’s head.
Y'know, that would make a great standalone topic (or for that matter, maybe it already has, and I've missed it, or more likely forgotten about it). Regardless, very good catch, I'm corroded with jealousy that I didn't think of it. :^)
:^D What GSC said.
I also wonder about the family feud period on the island, when the population was split into small groups and lived in hidden caves they controlled -- was that related to water collection as well? And drinking water is some fraction of the total water needs, there's also agricultural water needs, even in societies supposedly not reliant on any irrigation (all ag societies use it to some degree).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
