4000 pounds per square inch
That is the water pressure around the Ocean depth of 9,000 feet.
Most stuff gets crushed like a tissue paper.
Not this lil' guy --
from Wired:
New Sub Dives Crushing Depths
Scientists at the University of Washington have developed an autonomous underwater vehicle that can stay out to sea for up to a year and dive to depths of nearly 9,000 feet -- nearly three times deeper than the deepest-diving military submarines.
Known as Deepglider, the 71-inch long, 138-pound device is made of carbon fiber that can withstand the deep ocean's immense pressure. The energy-efficient, battery-powered glider carries sensors to measure oceanic conditions including salinity and temperature -- information that is key to understanding climate change. When the measurements are complete, Deepglider rises to the surface and transmits the data via satellite to onshore scientists.
"Reaching a depth of 2,700 meters (nearly 9,000 feet) is quite a feat and promises to extend the nature and type of missions that can be carried out by gliders," says Princeton University engineering professor Naomi Leonard. "You could even imagine a heterogeneous fleet of gliders working in tandem at different depths to explore this otherwise impenetrable undersea."
Deepglider opens up new research possibilities for oceanographers studying global climate change. The glider's first trip revealed unexpected warming of water near the ocean floor, and scientists are interested in studying whether the temperatures are related to global warming.
"The maiden voyage was wonderful," says Charlie Eriksen, professor of physical oceanography at the University of Washington in Seattle. "On every dive we got within 10 meters of the bottom and we were able to see some interesting bottom temperature and salinity variations that we didn't know about, that I certainly didn't expect."
During its maiden voyage, in November 2006, the glider remained at sea for 39 days and made 150 dives, the deepest of which was to 8,901 feet, just 33 feet shy of the sea floor.
Very cool -- remote sensing and telemetry are the new direction for exploration like this. Bob Ballard is doing some amazing archaeological work in the Black Sea with ROVs -- with autonomous vehicles like Deepglider, this extends our reach even further.
Posted by DaveH at February 26, 2007 10:12 PM