[LINK] Well oil beef hooked?

[TKoltai]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: link-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au 
> [mailto:link-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au] On Behalf Of 
> stephen at melbpc.org.au
> Sent: Wednesday, 27 June 2012 10:35 PM
> To: link at anu.edu.au
> Subject: [LINK] Well oil beef hooked?
> 
> 
> "Imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an 
> interesting world I find myself in - an interesting hole I 
> find myself 
> in - it fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? 
> 
> In fact it fits me staggeringly well - it must have been made 
> to have me 
> in it!' 
> 
> This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises and as, 
> gradually, the 
> puddle gets smaller and smaller, it's still frantically 
> hanging on to the 
> notion that everything's going to be alright, because this world was 
> meant to have him in it, it was built to have him in it; so 
> the moment he 
> disappears catches him rather by surprise. 
> 
> I think this may be something we need to watch out for." 
> Douglas Adams.
> 
> 
> Right now, on SBS, there is a travel program regarding the Maldives.
> 
> The presenter is swimming over *many* acres of coral reef. All dead.
> 
> There's no local industry. No change agent polluting this environmnt.
> 
> But these centuries old coral reefs are white and dead. Few 
> fish, no seaweed. Rising temperatures and sea levels are 
> blamed. Nothing else changed to be any cause of these 
> underwater wastelands. Why is it so?
> 

Well one theory would be that the Maldives are located on the
Chagos-Laccadive volcanic Ridge, on the part of the Indo-Australian
Tectonic plate abutting the Sunda, that is undergoing some adjustment at
the moment.
As the adjustment occurs (as in the recent 8.5 Earthquake in April this
year), the resulting fumarolic activity (gas vents) release large
amounts of extremely hot volcanic gases comprising of CO2, SO2, combined
with trace amounts of of N, H, CO, S, Ar, Cl, and F. These subordinate
gases can combine with hydrogen and sea water to produce numerous toxic
compounds, such as HCl, HF, H2SO4, H2S. Most of these are toxic to
marine life and coral reefs.

In plain English, the extreme heat combined with the unhealthy acidic
compounds released from undersea volcanic activity cooks the coral.

The main problem with this theory is that it doesn't get funding for
documentary production... 
Although Jacques Cousteau made several great documentaries about it in
the seventies...

There are fumarolic vent events at multiple locations globally, many
near to or amongst coral reefs. 

References: (add the "h")
ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagos-Maldives-Laccadive_Ridge
http://homepage.ufp.pt/biblioteca/Seismic/Pages/Page48.htm#OrbitalPertur
bations
http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/erupting_volcanoes.html
ttp://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Volcanic_gases.html

Interseismic deformation above the Sunda Megathrust recorded in coral
microatolls of the Mentawai islands, West Sumatra Danny Hilman
Natawidjaja et al, JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 112, B02404, 27
PP., 2007
doi:10.1029/2006JB004450
http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~sieh/pubs_docs/papers/P07d.pdf

TomK