Меditerranean-ization of Caspian sea?

[Sharkani Rend]

Say, in 1960-es.

Mega-project for "peaceful utilization of nuclear explosives" and geo-engineering by USSR.

Ref.s:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedan_Crater ,
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedan_(nuclear_test) ,
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Plowshare ,
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peaceful_nuclear_explosions ,
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacef...:_Nuclear_Explosions_for_the_National_Economy,

super-version of the Op.Plowshare's offshot - the Panatomic canal proposal for Nicaragua.

From the mouth of Don River at Rostov-on-Don to Kransoarmeysk rajon of Volgograd. ( where the elevation is around zero ), following the bed of Don and Volga-Don canal ( + some under Asov sea to let smoother flooding )...

About 600 km long "atomic canal" - hundres of meters wide and dozens to hundreds meters deep.

Several thousand of hundreds of kT range devices, burried deep enough to avoid almost all fallout issues.

Lower Don disappears turned into a "oceanic passage". Caspian basin fills up to the world ocean level. No locks, no dams.

Caspian countries become instantly Mediterranean ones...

The best map I could find :: http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/ser...no_initialsort,pub_date,pub_list_no,series_no

 

[Michel Van]

you mean the Eurasia Canal project ?

i personal have problem with massive use of Several thousand of hundreds of kT range nukes.
it would contaminated radioactive the ground water in area.

 

[Sharkani Rend]

Michael Van,

Perhaps "inspired" by this, but not exactly, because Eurasia canal would be more standard one if realized, and it does not plan to fill up the Caspian basin up to the world ocean zero meter level. Eurasia canal is also longer, even the shorter path across Manich is longer then Rostov to Volgograd path.

About radioactivity issues:

1. The Sedan example which used rather dirty 104 kT bomb with 30% fissible material - the resulting crater was visitable by unprotected humans only 7 months after the explosion, although it wasn't totally confined - there was a burstout. Using cleaner, deeper positioned and no-burstout charges would make the zone instantly usable.

2. The design with a nuclear blast cavitating "chimney" which to implode afterwards is better, cause NO radioactive gases or dirt/dust escape. And gives better shoreline and waterbody crossection topology.

3. Yes, Sedan test area is a desert, in contrast of the "wetter" bed of river Don, which shall be deepened with hundreds of meters and virtually destroyed ( together with all the flooded afterwards Lower Volga, too ) because of the inflow of Asov and Black sea salty ( but still 3 times lower salinity then the World ocean average ) waters -- will turn it into super-Bosporus, but yet for spread of underground radioactive products shall be limited in enormous degree by two factors - side-effect "glasification" of the nuclear bursts resulting underground cavities AND more importantly - digging out the Don's riverbed gives simultaneously the radioactive waste to get burried into the LOWEST water-capture points of this landscape.

With such canal even the biggest existing of planned vessels would be able to reach every port of the ( new ) Caspian shoreline without to pass locks, dams, etc. The canal won't need maintenance, it will be as robust and natural-like as the natural geological isthmuses...

 

[Driftless]

The US has/had a nuclear testing station in the El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico to evaulate the impact of using nuclear explosives to dig a trans-oceanic canal across Nicaragua.

Long story made short: the results indicated that using nukes to do the heavy lifting was a very bad idea.... The soil and vegetation retain the radioactive material

http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/elyunque/about-forest/?cid=fsbdev3_042983

1961

An Arboretum of more than 100 tropical tree species is established in the EYNF/LEF.
UPR scientists from the Puerto Rico Nuclear Research Center test the effects of gamma radiation on tropical forests in the El Verde sector of the EYNF. These tests were accomplished to provide scientific evaluation of whether nuclear energy should be used to carve-out a proposed inter-ocean waterway through Central America, to replace the Panama Canal.

http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4791&context=etd

 

[Sharkani Rend]

Long story made short: the results indicated that using nukes to do the heavy lifting was a very bad idea.... The soil and vegetation retain the radioactive material

Not heavy lifting, but heavy under-digging and collapse, no atmospheric release. I diagonalized the .pdf, but I think that the scope of this uber-interesting study does not cover much the topic. In "my" scenario the radionuclides remain/get absorbed/confined hundreds of meters deep covered with hundreds of meters of non-contaminated rock/earth on the LOWEST point of the natural drainage basins of ( Lower ) Don...

Yes, there might/will be long-term effects ( most probably insignificant, but this is my opinion ), but WHO CARES in USSR about these things.

I'm more interested by the geoplitical consequences. Volgograd becomming ocean AND river port, a equivalent of Constantinople/Istanbul between Black-Asov and ( expanded ) Caspian seas, etc.

Ecological from so vast flooding with 1/3 oceanic salty (brine) water is also interesting, but very very hard to assess. Perhaps even this will be beneficial for the evaporation and vegetation patterns??

 

[Gurroruo]

Say, in 1960-es.

Mega-project for "peaceful utilization of nuclear explosives" and geo-engineering by USSR.

Ref.s:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedan_Crater ,
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedan_(nuclear_test) ,
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Plowshare ,
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peaceful_nuclear_explosions ,
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacef...:_Nuclear_Explosions_for_the_National_Economy,

super-version of the Op.Plowshare's offshot - the Panatomic canal proposal for Nicaragua.

From the mouth of Don River at Rostov-on-Don to Kransoarmeysk rajon of Volgograd. ( where the elevation is around zero ), following the bed of Don and Volga-Don canal ( + some under Asov sea to let smoother flooding )...

About 600 km long "atomic canal" - hundres of meters wide and dozens to hundreds meters deep.

Several thousand of hundreds of kT range devices, burried deep enough to avoid almost all fallout issues.

Lower Don disappears turned into a "oceanic passage". Caspian basin fills up to the world ocean level. No locks, no dams.

Caspian countries become instantly Mediterranean ones...

The best map I could find :: http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/ser...no_initialsort,pub_date,pub_list_no,series_no

I recommend using the World Nuclear Association for additional research into the topic.

If the USSR succeeded then I think yes the area would become Med like, but probably not so much as in the map.

The US has/had a nuclear testing station in the El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico to evaulate the impact of using nuclear explosives to dig a trans-oceanic canal across Nicaragua.

Long story made short: the results indicated that using nukes to do the heavy lifting was a very bad idea.... The soil and vegetation retain the radioactive material

http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/elyunque/about-forest/?cid=fsbdev3_042983
http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4791&context=etd

The Americans were really bad with PNEs as shown by Sedan and the Nicaragua project. In fact the Russians did more tests and even used PNEs to eliminate gas field fires and they were fine.

 

[Sharkani Rend]

If the USSR succeeded then I think yes the area would become Med like, but probably not so much as in the map.

Not just Med-like but part of the Med system the way Black and Asov seas are.

USSR succeeded = crazy enough leader + enough money/economics to pay for the charges.

Perhaps the PoD could be some PNEs race, equivalent of the Space race?

BUT, back to my questions, could a.o. of us make decent map of the Black-Asov-Isthmus-Caspian shorelines? Please.

( Using the Michael Van's map - the YELLOW route from Taganrog to Volgograd and all the darker green - which is under the global sea level - flooded ).