3 ms·
not off-topic, maybe just a bit too pedantic. "The low compressibility of water means that even in the deep oceans at 4 km depth, where pressures are 40 MPa, t
by leeoniya 13y ago
not off-topic, maybe just a bit too pedantic.
"The low compressibility of water means that even in the deep oceans at 4 km depth, where pressures are 40 MPa, there is only a 1.8% decrease in volume."
also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_platform#Deepest_oil_platforms http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_platform#Deepest_oil_platfo...
- sp332 13y ago1.8% of 4 km is 72m, which is very significant when talking about sea level changes.
- leeoniya 13y agoit looks like most "deep" platforms listed in the wiki link are ~400m, so this would be 7.2m (assuming the compressibility factor is linear). either way it doesn't matter for this argument. we're talking about the difference between water and whatever it's replaced with such as "nothing" or something cheap and abundant with similar properties. also, the water we're talking about is not itself 4 km deep. it may be under 4km of sea water, but the fresh water under the seafloor may be only 500m deep with an equivalent pressure of 4 - 4.5 km.
- Jtsummers 13y agoVolume, not height. At 4km, 100 L of water would be compressed to 98.2 L. Also, that's at 4km depth, not the compression of everything above that point, but rather the compression of things at that point.