Sunken Nazi Submarine in North Sea Presents Environmental Problems

[Kriger]

Some 60 years after being torpedoed by a British navy submarine, the Nazi submarine U-864 was found in 2003 by the Royal Norwegian navy in roughly 500 feet of water off the coast of Fedje Island.

It's mission was to skirt Allied patrols as it made it's way to Japan with newly developed jet-engine technology, missle guidance systems, and roughly 70 tons of mercury for weapons production.

The British naval submarine, the Venturer,. stalked the U-864 for some three hours before sinking it and it's cargo and crew.

The problem being that the containers holding the mercury are showing alarming signs of rusting, and mercury levels in the immediate vicinity indicate the mercury is beginning to leak into the surrounding waters.

The Norwegian Coastal Administration is recommending encasing the submarine with sand to prevent the spread of mercury. Raising the sub presents far too great a risk for the containers to break and leak the mercury into the sea.

While a decision is being reached on how best to address the toxic threat, fishing is not allowed in the area.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/16289714.htm

[delete]

I don't know of this particular U-boat, but quicksilver and other heavey elements are something that because of gravity belonges deep under ground, and will end up there because of the trended random walk of individual atoms.

We have had really bad quicksilver polluted fjords, where we invested a lot of money to cover it with dirt. The movements of the bottom dvelling life leads to a much quicker sinking into the non productive layers of the sea floor of heavy metals than by random walk alone.

I think this is about getting goverment money to rescue the u-boat under the cover of environmentalism.

[///M power]

I heard about it!
I'm worried about the Norwegian salmons I eat!:mad:

[delete]

I heard about it!
I'm worried about the Norwegian salmons I eat!:mad:

Quicksilver sinks to the inert layers of the sea floor quicker than anybody thought posible, so I don't think this should be a problem in the future. I worry about habitat loss and trawling and the destruction of the Kelp Forrests.

We also have a lot of fjords, and the one who were contaminated don't mix waters with the ones where fishing and aquaculture is going on.

What I worry about is the Kelp forests, as these have an imence ecological value.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelp_forest
Kelp forests are a type of marine ecosystem established around colonies of kelp; they contain rich biodiversity. Kelp can stretch 2-30 meters or more (up to 60 m in Macrocystis pyrifera) from their anchors on the sea floor to the surface, providing a vertical infrastructure that is home to many fish and invertebrate species. Kelp forests also often attract mammalian visitors, including whales, sea lions, sea otters, and scuba diving humans.

Kelp forests draw their name from an analogy to forests on land.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelp
Kelp are large seaweeds (algae), belonging to the brown algae and classified in the order Laminariales. Despite their appearance they are not grouped with the normal aquatic or land plants (kingdom Plantae), but instead are included in either kingdom Protista or Chromista. There are about 30 different genera. Kelp grows in underwater forests (kelp forests) in clear, shallow, oceans, requiring nutrient rich water below about 20 °C, it offers a protection to some sea creatures, or food for others. It is known for its high growth rate - the genus Macrocystis grows up to 30 cm per day, to a total length of over 60 meters.

Through the 19th Century, the word "kelp" was closely associated with seaweeds that could be burned to obtain soda ash (primarily sodium carbonate). The seaweeds used included species from both the orders Laminariales and Fucales. The word "kelp" was also used directly to refer to these processed ashes.[1]