Japan Probes Mysterious Vapor Eruption

Saeed al-Sahaf writes "From the BBC, Japan's Coast Guard dispatched aircraft Sunday to survey a 3,300-foot-high column of steam rising from the Pacific Ocean off the island of Iwo Jima. MSNBC has a nice picture. The vapor was reported Saturday after Japanese troops stationed on the small island observed the massive cloudy plume rise from the sea about 30 miles southeast of the island. 'It's highly likely that it's caused by an eruption of an underwater volcano,' Japanese officials said. But others are not so sure, and are speculating that Godzilla has awoken from its nap. Tokyo remains calm at this hour."

I for one...

[Tanmi-Daiow]

welcome our new steam-spewing Godzilla overlords.

Mitsubishi F-2 Versus Godzilla

[reporter]

This scenario presents an ideal opportunity to deploy a squadron of F-2 fighter/bombers [wikipedia.org] to combat Godzilla or the Chinese naval fleet.

The F-2 is the new Japanese frontline fighter and employs stealth technology developed by Japanese engineers. The F-2 is distinctly inferior to the American F-22 but is a source of pride for the Japanese military.

In about 5 years, Tokyo will deploy the new F-2 Super Kai, an improved version of the F-2. The Japanese military has already released pictures of a prelimin [adularia.ath.cx]

Re:Mitsubishi F-2 Versus Godzilla

[mgs1000]

Eh, they'll be buying F-35s in 10 years.

Re:Mitsubishi F-2 Versus Godzilla

[griffjon]

Robotech reference time!
When's the VF-1 [kent.net] coming out?

Re:Mitsubishi F-2 Versus Godzilla

[PakProtector]

The Valkyrie is never coming out, due to the simple fact that we don't want to have to listen to a whiny little sixteen year old bitch singing such mind-warping 'classics' as "Stage Fright," "My Boyfriend is a Pilot," "We Will Win," "To Be In Love," etc.

On the other hand, I want a VT-1S. I know where all 57 controls are.

Re:Mitsubishi F-2 Versus Godzilla

[Zancarius]

The F-2 is the new Japanese frontline fighter and employs stealth technology developed by Japanese engineers. The F-2 is distinctly inferior to the American F-22 but is a source of pride for the Japanese military.

It's inferior because it's an F-16 airframe with radar absorbent materials on the leading edges. At least, according to the Wikipedia article to which you linked.

The incorporation of RAM (ACs: insert lame computer-hardware related joke here) into an aircraft does not make it stealthy. Ever wondered why the F-117, B-2, and for that matter the F-22 look rather unusual? It is because shape is much more important than the coating.

Having said this, the F-16 (and derivatives) are nevertheless remarkable aircraft. I have heard that some of the more experienced F-16 pilots have been fairly consistent in out-maneuvering the F-22 in exercises. With the introduction of stealth technologies, it is a shame to see such an incredible aircraft see the end of its line. (I would've probably said this about the P-51, too.)

Re:Mitsubishi F-2 Versus Godzilla

[myowntrueself]

"I have heard that some of the more experienced F-16 pilots have been fairly consistent in out-maneuvering the F-22 in exercises."

You mean 'out-turning', right?

(or should that be 'in-turning'. Ouch my head is spinning now remembering the old F16 Eagle simulator on the PC)

Re:Mitsubishi F-2 Versus Godzilla

[myowntrueself]

no you are right the game was Falcon... it was so long ago. Ahhhh the days of CGA.

Re:Mitsubishi F-2 Versus Godzilla

[ciroknight]

While the F-16 might be ever so slightly more manuverable by more experience pilots, our airforce is built and tasked by new and young labor. That means that tomorrow the F-22's will be outdated and the more experienced F-22's will beat the F-NN's.

The F-16 is truely a remarkable airframe, much as the Boeing 747 has been, but it really is time to get out of the 90's and move on to some more advanced, more fuel effecient, easier to fly and deal with machines.

Re:Mitsubishi F-2 Versus Godzilla

[Hard_Code]

But what about the JSF... as a taxpayer it seems to make much more sense to have 10 JSFs than 2 F-22s, no matter how good they are. The Discovery (or was it History) channels speciel on the Boeing vs. Lockheed competition for JSF was very interesting. The JSF VTOL is awesome.

Re:Mitsubishi F-2 Versus Godzilla

[ciroknight]

Wait.. Japan has a military AND an air force.. nah you've gotta be yanking my chain on that one. ;)

Re:Mitsubishi F-2 Versus Godzilla

[dabigpaybackski]

Why does this have anything to do with the Chinese naval fleet? When were the Chinese even mentioned?

It's just framebait, that's all.

Re:I for one...

[Parham]

...So you suspect there is more than one also!! I think there'll be one for every continent, I'm so scared.

no time like the present...

[j1m+5n0w]

...to visit Japan [megatokyo.com]!

I sure as hell don't

[MochaMan]

Oh yeah, laugh it up funnyman; you're not living here in Tokyo like some of us. How'd you feel if an angry lizard stomped your $2000/month 30 square metre (320 square foot) apartment into the ground? Do have any idea how long it's going to take me to replace my Hello Kitty collection?

I saw this one

[DanielMarkham]

Isn't this the one where Mothra shows up and kicks Godzilla's butt? Can you imagine going over that in a ship? That would be a heck of an ocean ride. Everybody's suits would be wrinkle-free.

Re:I saw this one

[StarsAreAlsoFire]

Can you imagine going over that in a ship?

There was a test done once, the details of which I cannot recall exactly as I don't know that I ever knew them. The gist of it was that they set of some high explosives far below a ship. A large ship. The point was to see if the 'bubbles' would do any damage to and/or sink the ship.

Well, the surface of the ocean turned to massive frothing abyss, and the ship disintegrated. I don't know if that means the test was a success or a failure ;~)

Anybody has details I'd

Re:I saw this one

[shogun]

Well, the surface of the ocean turned to massive frothing abyss, and the ship disintegrated. I don't know if that means the test was a success or a failure

I can't imagine that happening. What I would expect to happen is for the ship to drop to the bottom of the ocean as the aerated water suddenly became unable to support the ship...

Re:I saw this one

[BillyBlaze]

Random speculation - if the density of the bubbles was not regular over the hull of the ship, the hull would be subjected to forces it would not normally encounter. The Titanic broke in half when upended - it wasn't designed to withstand that kind of torque. Possibly related, torpedoes are more effective when the detonate near and under their target, because the bubble they create somehow does enough damage to offset the less-direct shockwave.

Re:I saw this one

[hysma]

There was a test done once, the details of which I cannot recall exactly as I don't know that I ever knew them. The gist of it was that they set of some high explosives far below a ship. A large ship. The point was to see if the 'bubbles' would do any damage to and/or sink the ship.

I saw a program that had something similar to this called "Disaster Detectives" I believe. They wanted to see if a release of bubbles could sink a ship. Turns out they didn't do much if directly under. However if the bubbles

Re:I saw this one

[Mateorabi]

There is also a theory that evaporating/subliming methane deposits can also sink ships due to the aerated water not being dense enough.

There is also speculation that the Bermuda Triangle has lots of these unstable deposits. Would explain a few things.

Re:I saw this one

[Wraithlyn]

Wouldn't explain the cases where they find the ship, but no crew. :)

Re:I saw this one

[StarsAreAlsoFire]

... or the gravitational anomaly... ;~)

Re:I saw this one

[dfjghsk]

Actually, Lloyd's of London and the Coast Guard has determined the Bermuda Triangle to be no more dangerous than any other piece of the ocean.

More info in wikipedia [wikipedia.org]

Re:I saw this one

[crawling_chaos]

I suggest that you look for a copy of the sadly out of print The Bermuda Triangle Mystery: SOLVED. A librarian in Texas pulled things like the actual weather reports and did statistical analysis on the so-called Triangle and found a few key things:

• The "ghost ship" stories like the Marie Celeste are drunken sailor's tales. There is no record of such a ship even being built.
• Most of the "clear weather" disappearances, like the TBM Avengers, actually happened during foul weather. No reporters bothered to check the actual weather records.
• Quite a few "Bermuda Triangle" disappearances occurred well outside of the triangle, such that it needs to be redefined as pretty much the entire South Atlantic.
• And finally, when you factor out all of these circumstances, the unexplained loss rate is average for an area with that much shipping traffic.

I would furthermore add that since the advent of GPS and more reliable marine radio, we sure haven't heard much noise from the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

Re:I saw this one

[Shimbo]

Quite a few "Bermuda Triangle" disappearances occurred well outside of the triangle, such that it needs to be redefined as pretty much the entire South Atlantic.

And in some cases, portions of the Pacific as well.

Re:I saw this one

[Savant]

While I'd agree in principle with the "no more accidents than expected given the shipping traffic" it seems odd that your librarian claims the Marie Celeste (or Mary Celeste, as it was before Conan Doyle got his hands on it) never existed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Celeste [wikipedia.org]

Wikipedia seems to give an identifiable history with a lot of detail for both the ship and captain.

Re:I saw this one

[sik0fewl]

Wikipedia seems to give an identifiable history with a lot of detail for both the ship and captain.

That article was probably contributed by drunken pirates.

Re:I saw this one

[PakProtector]

Arrr, matey! Ye be claimin' ye've seen a sober pirate?! *hiccough* Arrrr...

Re:I saw this one

[__aaxtnf2500]

Modern torpedos detonate at a significant distance from the keel of a surface target, as the initial expansion wave carries a significant portion, but not all of the potential energy the torpedo can generate. By detonating the torpedo at a deeper depth, the explosion can evacuate the water from under the keel, using the ships own weight against its (explosively) weakened structure. This effect can be seen in most of the SINKEX videos floating around the net. The ship disintegrating would be from the explosive force, not rising gases.

Re:I saw this one

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for the pointer. Here's a nice series of pictures [homestead.com] with an explanation describing the effect you describe.

I had shown these pictures to many people. My 12 year-old son, Greg, pointed out to me something no one else had noticed. He said, "Dad, there's no fire in that explosion".

I guess this wouldn't make it in hollywood.

The explosion happened underwater. The ship was split by the gas bubble generated.

Re:I saw this one

[StarsAreAlsoFire]

I think you might be right about the source of the story I mentioned, after looking at some pics (thanks be to the AC child-post on this level).

Re:I saw this one

[EnderWigginsXenocide]

If you get enough gas into a liquid you'll lower its density to a point where a boat will no longer be boyant enough to stay afloat. Boats only float when they are less dense than the medium they float in (this includes airspaces,not just the wood and metal.)

Re:I saw this one

[Solder Fumes]

The ship would sink, depending on how much steam there was. Basically, the density of the water is greatly reduced by all the bubbles. It's the density of water that holds the ship up. Sailing into this thing would be like dropping into a hole in the ocean.

SORRY... sorry....

[Brad1138]

Nothing to see here, I was swimming there and..uh... well.. I had beans last night.

Re:SORRY... sorry....

[spectre_240sx]

Ahh, that explains the brownish residue in the water as well.

Oh no.

[Silverlancer]

I'm worried. Tokyo might be destroyed by the impending eruption.

At least the Japanese have experience. I mean, Tokyo's been destroyed at *least* 500 times before hasn't it?

Re:Oh no.

[freeweed]

Tetsuo!!!!!

Kaneda!!!!!

(Repeat ad infinitum)

Re:Oh no.

[PakProtector]

Let's face it. If Tokyo wasn't destroyed every sixth months by Godzilla, Japan would rule the world!

Re:Oh no.

[Dan the Intern]

Source: http://lum-chan.bbox.org/info/animelaw.html [bbox.org]

#11 - Law of Inherent Combustability
Everything explodes. Everything.

First Corrallary
Anything that explodes bulges first.
Second Corrallary
Large cities are the most explosive substances known to human science. Tokyo in particular seems to be the most unstable of these cities, sometimes referred to as "The Matchstick City".

Re:Oh no.

[NanoGator]

"Thats just Karmic revenge for being complete bastards from 1895-1945. All japanese people living during that time have been reported as being re-encarnated as butt plugs to punish them for being one of the most evil conquers since Ghengis Khan."

What's funny is if this comment was about the USA, it'd have been modded up. I can't wait until that fad passes.

Re:Oh no.

[king-manic]

"Thats just Karmic revenge for being complete bastards from 1895-1945. All japanese people living during that time have been reported as being re-encarnated as butt plugs to punish them for being one of the most evil conquers since Ghengis Khan."

What's funny is if this comment was about the USA, it'd have been modded up. I can't wait until that fad passes.

Hmm.. Some sensitive pro-Japanese people I see(white Otaku). Perhaps they don't know about the history of Japan from 1895 till 1945. The raping of as

It's It's It's Godzilla

[infonography]

And he ordered the Extra Hot Curry platter.

Re:It's It's It's Godzilla

[HermanAB]

Hah, never saw a sig from 'Heavy metal' before!

Giant catfish farted !

[zymano]

Mmmmmm mmmmm smell so good.

Snow Crash

[TerranFury]

Steam clouds rising from the Pacific? The Coast Guard better be careful or else some guy in an inflatable raft will make them listen to Reason.

Re:Snow Crash

[Loren_Burlingame]

E:FB

Re:Snow Crash

[Feyr]

Reason will prevail, there's no doubt about it

Re:Snow Crash

[MichaelSmith]

...will make them listen to Reason.

Only if he is using the right patchlevel

Re:Snow Crash

[ab762]

Ultima Ratio Regnum - the last argument of kings.

Giant boiling water thingy

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Time to get a very large teabag...

Re:Giant boiling water thingy

[svallarian]

I'll give you a very large teabag. Just keep sleeping on my couch.

The water is friggin red!

[htrp]

Someone explain why the water in the picture looks red/brown?

I for one am slightly disturbed at this, is this normal for an undersea eruption?

Re:The water is friggin red!

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Someone explain why the water in the picture looks red/brown?

Probably hematite, sulfur compounds and ashes coming from the volcano. They must be mixing with the water on the ocean floor and rising with the columns of hot water.

Re:The water is friggin red!

[dhazard]

Just a guess, Brown from the sulfur? Red from the lava? That my guess.

Re:The water is friggin red!

[istartedi]

Because volcanos usually send up a lot of smoke and ash and crap (that's the technical term for it). The crap would usually put a lot of smoke in the air, especially from anything that burned. Since this is under water, any minerals such as iron and sulfer that might react due to the heat of the volcano, along with organic matter from dead fish, seeweed, coral, or whatever might be on the ocean floor doesn't turn into smoke. Instead, it dissolves into the water and turns it some nasty foul color, in this case reddish.

Endless fun on the ocean floor

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

dead fish, seeweed, coral, or whatever might be on the ocean floor doesn't turn into smoke. Instead, it dissolves into the water and turns it some nasty foul color, in this case reddish.

So basically what you're saying is, when an underwater volcano goes off, coral and seeweed all leave the surface and rush down to the bottom of the ocean to watch the event, as well as countless schools of fish passing by, only they get too close and promptly die, thereby creating a giant fruit de mer soup?

Interesting theory...

Re:Endless fun on the ocean floor

[Alsee]

So basically what you're saying is, when an underwater volcano goes off, coral and seeweed all leave the surface and rush down to the bottom of the ocean to watch the event

I'm sure the coral gets very tired by the time it swims down to the bottom :)

-

Under...

[presidentbeef]

...pants explosion?

Gah, I can't believe I just posted that

Re:The water is friggin red!

[jim_v2000]

It really isn't a volcano. It's actually the site where a tanker carrying Thai Hot Chilli Sauce [huyfong.com] went down!

Re:The water is friggin red!

[mattjb0010]

Someone explain why the water in the picture looks red/brown?

See here [slashdot.org].

Sounds like a nice island...

[RiotXIX]

Why is it uninhabited?

Re:Sounds like a nice island...

[patio11]

The name means "Sulfur Island" and they didn't just decide to name it after an element because the cool names were already taken. Due to volcanic activity, the place constantly smells like rotten eggs, and looks like Hell relocated to the central Pacific. That was BEFORE the US and Japan fought a major battle over it, littering the place with unexploded ordinance (grandpa did his part cleaning it up, bringing two live artillery shells to his house as souvenirs, where they stayed undisturbed until he died... we then had to call the Chicago bomb squad twice in one week after we found them in the basement). Its still in a vaguely decent geostrategic position, but anything else you'd use an island in the Pacific (tourism, etc) for can be done better at Okinawa or Hawaii, or for that matter just about anywhere other than Iwo.

Re:Sounds like a nice island...

[kfg]

Why is it uninhabited?

Because nobody live there. D'oh!

KFG

"Bloop monster" evolves to phase 2

[AndroidCat]

Tuning in to a deep sea monster (2002) [cnn.com]
Scientists have revealed a mysterious recording that they say could be the sound of a giant beast lurking in the depths of the ocean.

Researchers have nicknamed the strange unidentified sound picked up by undersea microphones "Bloop."

I'm sure we'll soon get underwater Sound Surveillance System reports of a giant "Ahhhh!" sound.

Bloop monster audio

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's the roar of the fearsome beast [noaa.gov]...

Play this with caution!! I am still quaking with terror and afraid to go near the water. Be afraid, be very afraid...

War

[CmdrPuto]

War of the Worlds has come?

Re:War

[raider_red]

Nah, but Spielberg did arrange for some big marketing stunt somewhere in the Pacific.

Re:War

[raider_red]

if all the aliens come out looking like Tom Cruise, Michael Jackson and Rosie O'Donnel. We're fucked.

I think I've already seen that movie. Oh, wait, that was real...

Will this be another Surtsey?

[leonbrooks]

If so, the Japanese can leave the Chinese islands to the south of them alone, and have this shiny new one instead. Problem solved.

Godzilla Godzilla Godzilla...

[KajiCo]

Oh no, there goes tokyo, go go Godzilla.

they THINK it's a volcano?

[jim_v2000]

Come on people...you don't have to be a scientist to figure out that steam + discolored water = underwater volcano. I was in Hawaii a few weeks ago at Hawaii Volcanos National Park and I was lucky enough to see magma going into the ocean...that stuff puts out a buncha steam probably thousands of feet in the air and makes the water look discolored.

On second thought

[jim_v2000]

Maybe it's not a volcano at all. I'll bet a tanker full of Thai Hot Chili Sauce [huyfong.com] went down there.

Re:they THINK it's a volcano?

[globalar]

Not to mention it is an near one of the most volcanically active regions of the world. [wikipedia.org]

Re:they THINK it's a volcano?

[_KiTA_]

Yes, that's the most logcal answer. In fact, I'd say it's the most probable answer.

But it *could* be something else, which is why they won't say for certain yet. That's just the way it works -- you don't say something IS something until it's been scientifically proven.

Which, as I understand it, gives certain "Intelligent Design" "scientists" in Kansas all sorts of confusion...

Re:they THINK it's a volcano?

[shobadobs]

But it *could* be something else, which is why they won't say for certain yet.

That's not a volcano. It's a space station!

Re:they THINK it's a volcano?

[grammar fascist]

Come on people...you don't have to be a scientist to figure out that steam + discolored water = underwater volcano.

They're scientists. They can't be 100% sure of anything, really.

Unless it's a methane lake on Titan. Or evidence of life on Mars. Or a new planet that "weighs" x metric tons orbiting a red giant.

Well, crap. It must be Godzilla, and I'm 100% sure of it.

Re:they THINK it's a volcano?

[Muhammar]

No - long before human came, they called this place R'lyeh.

(And stop making Godzila jokes; this makes Cthulhu very very angry.)

man it must suck to be in japan

[chadamir]

man, they are going to go back to the site on monday. Dont they know it's july 4th? Gosh, don't they get off for holidays?

Steam

[ImaNihilist]

I hate Steam.

Re:Steam

[syrion]

If you've got Steam coming from a leaky VALVe, you really need to patch it as soon as possible. Structural damage and personal injury can result from such problems.

look at the bigger picture

[anagama]

WA Post has an "enlargeable image" [washingtonpost.com] showing the plume from the side. I haven't found a bigger one yet. What I really want is video.

Re:look at the bigger picture

[anagama]

Google news Japan kanji for volcano search [google.com] ... better pictures!

Yahoo news for Japan with the kanji search [yahoo.co.jp] ... some with video. ;-)

appologies for the self reply.

Mod Parent UP

[jmichaelg]

The video is incredible. The surface roiling shown in the Yahoo video makes me wonder how far below the surface the eruption is taking place.

Re:Mod Parent UP

[anagama]

The roiling surface is something that really doesn't stand out in the photos -- when I saw that, I was amazed. I was lucky enough to watch these videos w/ a native Japanese speaker. Some of the commentary indicates that when this happened in 1986, an island formed but sank after a month. In the present situation, there are rock formations on the surface but they aren't staying in place -- rather, they are sinking fairly quickly.

Cool

[MSBob]

Looks like Japan just got some free energy from mother nature. Get some turbines over there and voila (nearly) free electricity. Especially if the geiser lasts for a while.

Do they really have to ask?

[Jubii]

The answer is quite simple actually: IT'S GODZILLA (R)(C)(TM) [slashdot.org] Aaaahhhh!!

So where's the Google Earth overlay?

[Namarrgon]

C'mon, somebody make with the neat imagery already...

Must be Longhorn starting to surface

[bursch-X]

What else could look like such a huge steaming pile of sh*t?

I think I'm sick

[Sheepdot]

Did the slashdot editors have to use the word "probe" in a story about steaming brownish goo?

Mysterious Vapor Eruption in Japan?

[Kidbro]

Sounds like a Sony press release to me :)

Vapors???

[Khyber]

Ultraman, How many times I gotta tell you to quit pulling Godzilla's finger!

Re:Apple testing new water-cooling solution?

[Krankheit]

Yes, we are. The slightly overclocked Intel Pentium 4 chips we are using are speculated to cause enough smoke to trigger a mass extinction. We are testing our chips under water. We hope Japan doesn't get pissed off and raise the fees on memory manufacture for our machines, so we are giving Japan the first machine off the line free.

Re:obligatory

[Anonymous Coward]

I for one welcome our new... what have I become? :-/

A troll. Thanks for playing.

Re:This is a joke, right?

[typobox43]

The article... even the summary... states that it's 3300 feet high.

it is about 1KM plus or minus lots

[dominux]

3300 feet is an over precise figure because the estimate is in metric and someone has converted it for people who can't cope with the modern measurement system. The height of the column is in the order of magnitude of a kilometer.

Re:This is a joke, right?

[kongit]

3300 ft. You ninny.

Re:This is a joke, right?

[Anonymous Coward]

That plume is 3300 Miles high?

Wow, that's several times higher than the space station.

Re:Its the terrorists!

[apachetoolbox]

well if the pacific ocean was downloading movies or music the US would have already thrown it in jail.

Re:Damn... Japan Still Exists

[ScrewMaster]

So, in other words, they don't know what this is but they're sure it won't cause a tsnunami.

Okay.

"In other news, Japan's Seismological Agency said it would be a good idea if people didn't stand quite so close to the shoreline."