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Science Bikini bounces back from Big Bomb
Science Bikini bounces back from Big Bomb | Bikini bounces back from Big Bomb |
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| by William Atkins | |
| Wednesday, 16 April 2008 | |
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The largest nuclear weapon ever detonated by the United States was centered at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands (South Pacific Ocean) on March 1, 1954. Fifty-four years later scientists find an abundance of underwater life—but, above ground, only uninhabitable land.
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Science DiscussionsAlso known as Pikinni Atoll, the uninhabited 2.3-square-mile (six-square kilometr) atoll is one of thirty-six islands of Micronesia (a sub-region of Oceania). It is owned by the Rupublic of the Marshall Islands (RMI, commonly called, the Marshall Islands). Between 1946 and 1958 a series of nuclear weapons tests were performed as part of the area called the Pacific Proving Grounds, a part of the U.S. nuclear testing program. On March 1, 1954, the first U.S. test of a dry fuel thermonuclear (fusion) device was detonated. The code name for the U.S. operation was Castle Bravo, part of the larger program called Operation Castle. The bomb was approximately one thousands times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, only one of two intentional nuclear weapon attacks ever conducted by one country (United States) on another country (Japan). Marine scientists recently returned to Bikini Atoll. Zoe Richards, from Cook University (Australia) and the Australian Research Council's Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, was one of the members of the international team of researchers. Team members came from Australia, the Marshall Islands, Italy, Germany, and the United States. The goal of the expedition was to study the diversity and abundance of marine life in the atoll. They found coral and fish flourishing in the water. In total, the team found 183 species of scleractinian (hard, or stony) coral. Some of the coral was found to be 27 feet (eight meters) in height, with up to a 12-inch (30-centimeter) diameter trunk. The scientists found that about seventy percent of the coral species had re-established themselves around Bikini Atoll. Richards exclaimed at the discovery, “We saw communities not too far from any coral reef, with plenty of fish, corals and action going on, some really striking individual colonies.” [Reuters UK: “Coral flourishing at Bikini Atoll atomic test site”] She added, "It was fascinating. I've never seen corals growing like trees outside of the Marshall Islands.” Bravo Crater was created as a result of the explosion of the nuclear device which eventually rose 62 miles (100 kilometers) into the sky, with a width of about four miles (six kilometers). The crater is approximately one mile (1.6 kilometers) in diameter and about 240 feet (75 meters) deep. At the same time, the researchers found that some coral species appear to be locally extinct, most likely due to the blast itself or the resulting radioactivity, increased nutrient levels in the waters, or increased sediments created. Richards stated, “The missing corals are fragile lagoonal specialists – slender branching or leafy forms that you only find in the sheltered waters of a lagoon.” [UQ News Online (University of Queensland): “Bikini corals recover from atomic blast”] The marine researchers found that areas above the ocean were uninhabitable for humans, remaining contaminated with radioactivity. How did life under the water come back? Please read on. |
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