3 ms·
Yep turns to a caustic mud. There was a weird weather modification attempt during the 2000 one. Mandated curfew one night everyone ordered to stay in their camp
by Projectiboga 3y ago
Yep turns to a caustic mud. There was a weird weather modification attempt during the 2000 one. Mandated curfew one night everyone ordered to stay in their camps events canceled. Sunny day and 4 huge military cargo aircraft come from east circle and head south then weather came from south west and windy that night. Anyways what ever happened the playa gets less comfortable when it's wet and cool.
- saberience 3y agoDo you mean caustic as in the dictionaty definition of caustic? That is, the mud on the playa turns corrosive when mixed with water?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- riffic 3y agois there something not hard to believe about that?
- rcme 3y agoKind of, yes. Normally one thinks of something like lye being caustic, not dirt, even when wet.
- jamal-kumar 3y agoWell think about it this way Baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate) is something like pH 8, sodium carbonate (What you get if you put bicarbonate in the oven at 400 degrees for an hour or so) is something like ph 10-11, and is a large component of alkalai soils. [1] You probably won't have a problem with baking soda but the more basic form of it (as we call 'washing soda') is definitely something you don't want on your skin for long periods of time. I suggest making some in the oven to soak some soiled socks or something you have - but careful breathing the dust in, you'll notice that it's way sharper on your nose than baking soda. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkali_soil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkali_soil
- lazide 3y agoIt’ll definitely screw up your skin (not fatally), and can cause corrosion to vehicles and the like. It’s mostly alkaline though. So think (weak) lye, not acidic. PH is around 10
- pcl 3y agoYes — the lake beds in the west are generally covered in alkali dust. Add water and you get a caustic basic mud slurry.
- convolvatron 3y agonot even just when mixed with water. you can develop some really nasty cracks and lesions.
- jandrewrogers 3y agoThe playas in Nevada aren't "dirt" in the conventional sense. They are covered in layers of alkali salts that precipitated out of the lakes that used to be there, with chemistry influenced by Nevada's active volcanic geology. It can be quite corrosive and you probably don't want to subject your skin to it for extended periods of time. Nevada has a very wide range of pH found in nature due to its geochemistry.