Nice People Thread Part 9 - and so it continues

PasturesNew

michaels wrote: »

I did the maths as this sounded unlikely but it seems that Aus is 1/46 of the size of the worlds oceans so would need to be 'covered with'/holding water to an average depth of 32cm to lower the seas by 7mm (assuming that the weight of water did not cause the land to sink at all)

The water'd sink in though, not just sit on the top.

michaels

PasturesNew wrote: »

The water'd sink in though, not just sit on the top.

Yep - My calcs said to me that what I had originally assumed to be impossible was actually possible as I guess land that was originally completely dry no doubt could be 'holding' a fair amount of water, I bet the ground in the UK holds more than 30cm of water on average. However it would require the area holding extra water to be pretty widespread over the whole continent I would have thought and I suspect that would be pretty unusual in Aus?

Generali

zagubov wrote: »

I dunno- a lot of it may be stored in porous rocks. I remember once being puzzled when I visited Majorca at the lack of lakes and reservoirs and water storage facilities. All the riverbeds were dry and we never saw rain but tapwater and irrigation was plentiful.

I know there's also meant to be loads of water in places under the sahara. There's a channel called the Great Underground River (or similar) in Libya IIRC.

PasturesNew wrote: »

The water'd sink in though, not just sit on the top.

Good points.

Additionally, large dry rivers and lakes filled. Also flowers and plants bloomed right across the desert. That's gotta store a fair bit of water.

That much though? I'm still a little dubious although I can see it's not impossible.

Generali

michaels wrote: »

Yep - My calcs said to me that what I had originally assumed to be impossible was actually possible as I guess land that was originally completely dry no doubt could be 'holding' a fair amount of water, I bet the ground in the UK holds more than 30cm of water on average. However it would require the area holding extra water to be pretty widespread over the whole continent I would have thought and I suspect that would be pretty unusual in Aus?

A lot of the land is sandstone and clay which makes for natural aquifers I think: hydrophobic rock next to porous???

zagubov

Generali wrote: »

Good points.

Additionally, large dry rivers and lakes filled. Also flowers and plants bloomed right across the desert. That's gotta store a fair bit of water.

That much though? I'm still a little dubious although I can see it's not impossible.

Well it's only (on average) a foot of water across the whole country's soil, rivers, deserts and underground aquifers.

Reminds me of those calculations somebody did about how many elephants weigh as much as a typical cloud (I think it was about a dozen).:D

lostinrates

Time flies.

Today I have bought adult food for the kiwi, to start seeing which he has a taste for. He suddenly looks big

neverdespairgirl

LydiaJ wrote: »

But then my dad has always believed in treating children as people - people who don't know as much as adults, shouldn't be burdened with as much responsibility as adults, and are interested in different things, but basically just people and worthy of respect. DS commented on it recently. DS and DD were complaining about various adults that they feel talk down to them as though they're younger than they are. I pointed out that my dad doesn't. DS replied "But he always talks to everyone as though they're older than they really are."

Sounds like a great Dad - and a fantastic Grandad, too.

My Dad's similar - he uses less complicated language with younger children, and makes due allowance for small stature, and is much more patient with children than adults (which isn't difficult, he's pretty impatient with adults!) but otherwise just treats them as small people.

chewmylegoff

michaels wrote: »

Yep - My calcs said to me that what I had originally assumed to be impossible was actually possible as I guess land that was originally completely dry no doubt could be 'holding' a fair amount of water, I bet the ground in the UK holds more than 30cm of water on average. However it would require the area holding extra water to be pretty widespread over the whole continent I would have thought and I suspect that would be pretty unusual in Aus?

Prior to 2010/11 large parts of Australia had experienced a drought which had lasted for 10 years. In many areas the dams were close to being empty (not much capacity compared to the sea, obviously) but I expect groundwater levels were significantly depleted over that time and everything that could adsorb water was probably bone dry. Certainly the area where OH's parents live near Brisbane is completely different to what it looked like in 2009ish when there wasn't a blade of grass anywhere in sight and all the vegetation was dead as a doornail.

neverdespairgirl

You are an impressive lot - it's fantastic the depth and bredth of scientific knowledge among the OP!

PasturesNew

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

You are an impressive lot - it's fantastic the depth and bredth of scientific knowledge among the OP!

If it helps.... I know f3ck all