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Author Topic: 2 year journey of time capsule from North Pole to Ireland  (Read 1645 times)

Niall Dollard

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2 year journey of time capsule from North Pole to Ireland
« on: November 05, 2020, 10:03:38 PM »
Kassy mentioned in the what's new thread of the Russian time capsule that was placed into the ice at the North Pole 2 years ago and has now been washed ashore on the coast of West Donegal Ireland.

https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,596.msg292253.html#msg292253

Another link to the story here :

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/it-travelled-4-000km-donegal-surfers-find-russian-time-capsule-1.4401174

Various media reports mention it travelled circa 4000 km.

I think this is well off the mark. I made a rough calculation as to the possible track using typical Ocean surface currents. I'd say it travelled closer to 11,000 km in the two years !

The starting point on my map is about 1000 km south of the North Pole in the Fram Strait. I've included a brief tour along the West coast of Greenland and then down the Labrador Sea and across on the North Atlantic Drift.

A possible shorter alternative is that it slipped south at Cape Farewell and was not caught up in the West Greenland current. That would make the total journey about 7,000km (4,000 shorter).

Still quite alarming how it travelled so quickly from its starting point in the ice at the Pole. 

 

glennbuck

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Re: 2 year journey of time capsule from North Pole to Ireland
« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2020, 11:01:59 PM »
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/05/arctic-time-capsule-from-2018-washes-up-in-ireland-as-polar-ice-melts

McClory tracked down one of the letter’s authors, a Russian Instagram blogger in St Petersburg known as Sveta. In a Zoom call, Sveta said the crew and passengers had thought the cylinder might be discovered in 30 or 50 years and expressed shock it was found so quickly, McClory said.

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: 2 year journey of time capsule from North Pole to Ireland
« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2020, 11:19:25 PM »
glenbug, is this a consequence in any way of AGW?

oren

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Re: 2 year journey of time capsule from North Pole to Ireland
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2020, 12:12:31 AM »
Is it that surprising? With the trans-polar drift and increased ice mobility, 30-50 years sounds like a gross over-estimate. 2 years actually makes some sense.

binntho

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Re: 2 year journey of time capsule from North Pole to Ireland
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2020, 06:38:07 AM »
If we assume 2 years and 11.000 km, that translates into 0.6 km/hour, which is way below the speed of most ocean currents, perhaps by a factor of 10.

Ice on the north pole will most likely exit via the Fram strait within a year, so an a priori guess of 2 years to take the above route would have been reasonable.

So I see nothing unusual about the speed of the capsule. But the chances of it being discovered at all after landing, let alone witihin no more than a few months, is most unlikely.
because a thing is eloquently expressed it should not be taken to be as necessarily true
St. Augustine, Confessions V, 6