[Phys-L] Re: Buoyancy question

[hhaskell at MINDSPRING.COM (Hugh Haskell)]

At 15:10 -0800 12/9/04, Bernard Cleyet wrote:
> probably sink faster than you think unless it's sunless or the steel
> painted white or "really" cold.
>
> bc,  Who, while skiing on shoes, on Dana Glacier, had to avoid the dark
> stones below the surface, many w/ liquid above.
Well, that's one mechanism, but it's only going to work while it is
still on (or near) the surface and doesn't have a layer of snow blown
over it, which is what happens to objects left lying around in
Antarctica, and I presume in other icy regions.

I recall being stranded (not alone) near the Ellsworth Mountains in
west Antarctica many years ago (1962). In the absence of anything
better to do, I thought I would do something for the group and dig a
latrine, so we could get out of the wind during those "delicate"
moments. I spent about three hours, and dug a masterpiece--about 5
feet deep, with steps leading down, even a little wooden seat. The
next morning when we got up, it was nowhere to be found. During the
night (such as it was), the constant winds had blown enough snow to
completely fill the hole I had spent all those hours digging the day
before.

Point is that there is almost always a wing bowing in that part of
the world, and it carries the snow with it, so anything that is left
out long enough gets covered, and after it has been covered by an
inch or two of snow, the effects of sunlight on the item itself will
be minimal.

Hugh
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Hugh Haskell
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<mailto:hhaskell@mindspring.com>

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