Bikini Atoll's Nuked Coral Reef Bounces Back to Life

Bikini Atoll's Nuked Coral Reef Bounces Back to Life

www.foxnews.com

The massive explosion vaporized everything on three islands in the atoll, raised water temperatures to 55,000 degrees and left a crater that was 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) wide and 240 feet (73 meters) deep.
A team of scientists recently led a diving expedition into Bravo Crater and found an unexpectedly thriving coral community.

"I didn't know what to expect — some kind of moonscape perhaps. But it was incredible, huge matrices of branching Porites coral (up to 8 meters [25 feet] high) had established, creating a thriving coral reef habitat," said study team member Zoe Richards of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University.

"Throughout other parts of the lagoon it was awesome to see coral cover as high as 80 percent and large tree-like branching coral formations with trunks 30 centimeters

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.foxnews.com
news.nationalgeographic.com

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
none found

It seems unexpected that coral reefs would make a spectacular recovery after being destroyed by a hydrogen bomb. 20 other nuclear bombs were detonated there also! But it has been 50 years since the last detonation and the atol has been left more or less completely undisturbed by man. Also, many of the original species present before the tests have not returned. The destroyed atol was apparently seeded down by nearby atols.
Ambient radiation readings are rather low around the atol but it is feared that radiation accumulates in food products such as coconuts making them unsafe.
Check out great photos in the National Geographic link.

www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

How refreshing! Talk about good news. I am a huge reef enthusiast. I maintain a reef ecosystem in my home, and am aware of the fragility and delicate nature of a reef system. Todays reefs are bleaching out, and dying. To hear of a renewal of life in a reef is excellent. I am thrilled to hear this news!
As long as the nukes don't make super Xenia which when collaborating with a bunch of leathers don't take over the planet that is.

reply to post by lombozo


Thanks lombozo!
It's interesting to imagine what the designers of the Bikini Atol Atomic Bomb program would have thought about the possibility of the coral reef making and eventual recovery and thriving. Words like unlikely, impossible, never, complete nuclear anhilation come to mind!