What about altering circulation patterns so that rain falls where it will fill those aquifers over the course of several years?
On Jun 9, 4:42 am, Andrew Lockley <[email protected]> wrote: > Siphoning can't work to overcome elevations of over 33'. Shattering > non-porous rocks with explosives, and blasting submarine channels or surface > canals, may instead be appealing to allow direct flow. > The soviets investigated using nuclear weapons to carry out civil > engineering projects needing wide channels. > > The issue of salinity is not as cut-and-dried as it might appear. There is > a potential for mixing of salt should saline and fresh waters come into > contact. This may happen by physical flow only, or assisted by osmosis - as > fresh water is drawn into salty rocks. > > A > > 2009/6/8 Stephen Salter <[email protected]> > > > > > Hi All > > > The most immediately expensive effect of global warming (at least to > > rich people) is rising sea levels so the Buttram proposal for moving sea > > water to sub-sea deserts would help. > > > However if you check the depth of the water table in the centre of the > > Sahara, look at the likely porosity of the rock above it and the ratio > > of areas of desert and sea you find that we could drain off at least one > > and maybe two metres of sea level rise deep below the desert. The deep > > water below the Sahara is already too saline for most uses and if you > > are going to the trouble of installing solar powered desalination > > equipment the extra salinity just means slightly more energy > > consumption. People living in low-lying coastal cities could well afford > > to give a personal desalination plant to every man, woman, child, camel > > and goat in Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Chad. > > > The water could flow on its own if we could reduce the flow resistance > > of the path between the sea bed and the deep rock below the desert. > > There is a very wide range of flow resistivity in rocks. Because of the > > large flow area we should be able to get sufficiently low resistance for > > many rock types. I believe that resistance is dominated by ooze on the > > sea bed which has clogged the entry passages into more porous material. > > All we need to do is to scrape away the right amount of ooze above the > > porous rock to regulate the flow and so keep sea levels where we want them. > > > A low carbon way to do remove ooze is to use wave energy to drag objects > > which would look like a cross between a plough and an anchor through the > > ooze. The ooze will be rich in nutrients and getting some of it into > > suspension should help fish stocks. We can do some further un-clogging > > with a vacuum mat laid on the sea bed. > > > The first research step would be to assemble data on rock porosity and > > ooze depth in likely desert and sea areas. There may even be natural > > passageways formed by rock faults. Oil companies will have lots of rock > > core data and might be willing to release it. Is there one with a > > sufficient level of social responsibility? > > > Stephen > > > Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design > > School of Engineering and Electronics > > University of Edinburgh > > Mayfield Road > > Edinburgh EH9 3JL > > Scotland > > tel +44 131 650 5704 > > fax +44 131 650 5702 > > Mobile 07795 203 195 > > [email protected] > >http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~shs > > > Ken Caldeira wrote: > > > Folks, > > > > I ran across this pdf recommending the benefits of flooding sub > > > sea-level desert areas. > > > > I believe the author of this document (cc'd) would enjoy your comments. > > > > Best, > > > > Ken > > > > ___________________________________________________ > > > Ken Caldeira > > > > Carnegie Institution Dept of Global Ecology > > > 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305 USA > > > > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>; [email protected] > > > <mailto:[email protected]> > > >http://dge.stanford.edu/DGE/CIWDGE/labs/caldeiralab > > > +1 650 704 7212; fax: +1 650 462 5968 > > > -- > > The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in > > Scotland, with registration number SC005336. > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
