Under Ocean Volcanoes Warming Water

iceagenow.com ^ | unknown | Robert Felix

[beyond the sea]

This could explain a few things about warming water and melting ice.

[burzum]

I hope they’re correct, but if there’s a tremendous amount of magma pouring into the ocean I think we have a problem. The magma could be as much as 2,150 degrees Fahrenheit - 10 times the boiling point – which could lead to much warmer seas and thence to an ice age.

Where do they get these science writers? Good grief!

[sure_fine]

ring of fire bump for johnny

[manwiththehands]

I could never understand the "warming oceans equals new ice age" logic, either. It's all a bunch of hooey. They're just covering all the bases so no matter what happens they can come back and say: "See? We were right!"

[Night Hides Not]

This could explain a few things about warming water and melting ice.

No matter, it's still Bush's fault.

Here's my preferred means of melting ice, with a bit of tonic mixed in:

[Grut]

...which could lead to much warmer seas and thence to an ice age...Where do they get these science writers? Good grief!

If you're referring to the comment about warmer seas leading to an ice age, that's not so ridiculous; warmer seas lead to more atmospheric moisture which snows out at the poles etc... but I suspect that a source with a name like "iceagenow" may not be perfectly unbiased.

[beyond the sea]

if there’s a tremendous amount of magma pouring into the ocean I think we have a problem. The magma could be as much as 2,150 degrees Fahrenheit - 10 times the boiling point

I have no idea how hot magma is. I just heard about the heat of McDonald's hot coffee.

[burzum]

No, I was specifically commenting on the fact that the writer thought that 2150 F is ten times the boiling point.

Of what? Water at atmospheric pressure?

That temperature is 373 K. 2150 F is 1450 K, certainly not ten times the value. In any other case (such as the boiling point of water under high pressure--such as the bottom of the ocean), the ratio is even lower.

A person who writes about science should know better. A first year physics student would know better. It is obvious that the author forgot about the thermodynamic temperature scale.

[Pusterfuss]

Shoot! If only we had signed Kyoto...

[beyond the sea]

ring of fire bump for johnny

LOL

Ring of Fire

http://www.crystalinks.com/rof.html

[Left2Right]

See, this is what happens when you don't ratify the Kyoto Accord. Rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere coupled with oil drilling in Alaska has raised the temperature of the earth's crust...

"Underwater volcano erupting 700 miles SE of Tokyo - July 3, 2005 - The coast guard sent helicopters to monitor a huge column of steam more than half-a-mile wide rising above the Pacific Ocean southeast of Tokyo, and warned ships to stay away. The water in the area was brick-red."

Soon, Godzilla will be destroying Tokyo and there is nothing any one will be able to do to stop it.

[Izzy Dunne]

The magma could be as much as 2,150 degrees Fahrenheit - 10 times the boiling point

Hey - 2150 degrees F = 1177 degrees C - that's over ELEVEN times the boiling point !!!

[beyond the sea]

LOL.

I could use something right about now to melt the compacted snow and ice on my 650 foot driveway.

[burzum]

I hope you are joking, but if you are not: convert your values to kelvins and then compare.

[Izzy Dunne]

I hope you are joking

Yes, I know how to operate a thermometer.

[beyond the sea]

but I suspect that a source with a name like "iceagenow" may not be perfectly unbiased.

That's true, but some times some things are just facts. These volcanoes are a reality.

We know more about our solar system than we do about under our oceans and the interior of the earth.

;-)

[CarrotAndStick]

India Daily? That's a New Jersey-based sham news blog.

[saganite]

Boiling point at sea level is 212 F so, since he's talking F for the temp of the magma, I guess that's where he figured it's 10 times the boiling point of water.

[beyond the sea]

That's a New Jersey-based sham news blog.

Which paper broke the Monica story? Which paper broke the Jesse Jackson fathering a child outside his marriage story?

Sometimes the "rags" get it right.

[burzum]

I always have to be careful when interpreting geophysical actions into changes in climate. For example many scientists believe that the great end of Permian extinction event that occured 250 million years ago was due to immense volcanic activity. Some say that the volcanic activity may have superheated the Earth's atmosphere while others say it may have sent up ash that blocked out the sunlight cooling the atmosphere. Vastly different estimations from roughly the same event.

In this case we are talking about under-ocean volcanoes warming the oceans. I'm not sure that I agree with that argument. It's not that I don't think that underwater volcanoes wouldn't heat the oceans (they probably would if they were not allowed to send any ejecta into the atmosphere), it's just that I don't think I agree with the premise that the ring of fire has gone into a super-active phase. I studied geophysics for 2 years before I got sick of it and one thing I learned is that the Earth rarely suddenly changes its behavior. Volcanic activity will scale up over millions or billions of years, not tens of years. If there is a high value for one year it will be averaged out statistically.

I give a lot more credibility to arguments that the Sun, CO2, or methane gas hydrate release is warming the oceans than to a change in the Earth itself. It's a positive feedback cycle: the Sun heats the oceans which emit CO2 and methane, which further heats the atmosphere as greenhouse gasses. Obviously there must be some negative feedback cycle or the Earth would have long ago spiraled off into oblivion. I'm guessing that that negative feedback is due to plankton and phytoplankton that thrive at higher temperatures, reflecting more sunlight away.