essays on ship wreckage
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A shipwreck is the remains of a shipthat has wrecked, which are found either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwreckingmay be deliberate or accidental. UNESCO estimates that worldwide over 3 million shipwrecks, some thousands of years old, lie on seabeds.
TYPES
Historic wrecks are attractive to maritime archaeologists because they preserve historical information: for example, studying the wreck of Mary Rose revealed information about seafaring, warfare, and life in the 16th century. Military wrecks, caused by a skirmish at sea, are studied to find details about the historic event; they reveal much about the battle that occurred. Discoveries of treasure ships, often from the period of European colonisation, which sank in remote locations leaving few living witnesses, such as the Batavia, do occur as well. Some contemporary wrecks, such as the oil tankers Prestige or Erika, are of interest primarily because of their potential harm to the environment. Other contemporary wrecks are scuttled in order to spur reef growth, such as Adolphus Busch and the Ocean Freeze. Wrecks like Adolphus Busch and historic wrecks such as SS Thistlegorm are of interest to recreational divers that dive to shipwrecks because they are interesting to explore, provide large habitats for many types of marine life, and have an interesting history.[citation needed]
Well known shipwrecks include the catastrophic Titanic, Britannic, Lusitania, Estonia, Empress of Ireland, Andrea Doria, or Costa Concordia. There are also thousands of wrecks that were not lost at sea but have been abandoned or sunk. These abandoned, or derelict ships are typically smaller craft, such as fishing vessels. They may pose a hazard to navigation[3] and may be removed by port authorities.[4]
CAUSES
Poor design, improperly stowed cargo, navigation and other human errors leading to collisions (with another ship, the shoreline, an iceberg, etc.), bad weather, fire, and other causes can lead to accidental sinkings. Intentional reasons for sinking a ship include forming an artificial reef; due to warfare, piracy, mutiny or sabotage; as part of target practice; or to remove a menace to navigation. A ship can be also used as breakwater structure.
Prevention
Many factors determine the state of preservation of a wreck:
the ship's construction materials
the wreck becoming covered in sand or silt
the salinity of the water the wreck is in
the level of destruction involved in the ship's loss
whether the components or cargoof the wreck were salvaged
whether the wreck was demolished to clear a navigable channel
the depth of water at the wreck site
the strength of tidal currents or wave action at the wreck site
the exposure to surface weather conditions at the wreck site
the presence of marine animals that consume the ship's fabric
temperature
the acidity (or pH), and other chemical characteristics of the water at the site
The above-mentioned, especially the stratification (silt/sand sediments piled up on the shipwrecks) and the damages caused by marine creatures is better described as "stratification and contamination" of shipwrecks. The stratification not only creates another challenge for marine archaeology but also a challenge to its primary state, the state that it had when it sank.
Stratification includes several different types of sand and/or silt, as well as tumulus and encrustations. These "sediments" are tightly linked to the type of currents, depth, and the type of water (salinity, pH, etc.), which implies any chemical reactions that would lead to affecting the hypothetical/possible main cargo (such as wine, olive oil, spices, etc.).
Besides this geological phenomenon, wrecks also face the damage of marine creatures that create a home out of them; primarily being octopuses and crustaceans. These creatures affect the primary state because they move, or break, any parts of the shipwreck that are in their way, thereby affecting the original condition of amphorae, for example, or any other hollow places. Finally, in addition to the slight or severe destruction marine animals can create, there are also "external" contaminants, such as modern-day commodities, or contemporary pollution in bodies of water, that as well severely affect shipwrecks by changing the chemical structures, or even destroying or devastating even more of what is left of a specific ship.
All the above offers great challenges to the marine archaeologist when attempting to bind the pieces of a certain shipwreck together. Despite these challenges, if the information retrieved does not appear to be sufficient, or a poor preservation is achieved, authors like J.A. Parker claim that it is the historical value of the shipwreck that counts, as well as any slight piece of information and/or evidence that is acquired.[5]
TYPES
Historic wrecks are attractive to maritime archaeologists because they preserve historical information: for example, studying the wreck of Mary Rose revealed information about seafaring, warfare, and life in the 16th century. Military wrecks, caused by a skirmish at sea, are studied to find details about the historic event; they reveal much about the battle that occurred. Discoveries of treasure ships, often from the period of European colonisation, which sank in remote locations leaving few living witnesses, such as the Batavia, do occur as well. Some contemporary wrecks, such as the oil tankers Prestige or Erika, are of interest primarily because of their potential harm to the environment. Other contemporary wrecks are scuttled in order to spur reef growth, such as Adolphus Busch and the Ocean Freeze. Wrecks like Adolphus Busch and historic wrecks such as SS Thistlegorm are of interest to recreational divers that dive to shipwrecks because they are interesting to explore, provide large habitats for many types of marine life, and have an interesting history.[citation needed]
Well known shipwrecks include the catastrophic Titanic, Britannic, Lusitania, Estonia, Empress of Ireland, Andrea Doria, or Costa Concordia. There are also thousands of wrecks that were not lost at sea but have been abandoned or sunk. These abandoned, or derelict ships are typically smaller craft, such as fishing vessels. They may pose a hazard to navigation[3] and may be removed by port authorities.[4]
CAUSES
Poor design, improperly stowed cargo, navigation and other human errors leading to collisions (with another ship, the shoreline, an iceberg, etc.), bad weather, fire, and other causes can lead to accidental sinkings. Intentional reasons for sinking a ship include forming an artificial reef; due to warfare, piracy, mutiny or sabotage; as part of target practice; or to remove a menace to navigation. A ship can be also used as breakwater structure.
Prevention
Many factors determine the state of preservation of a wreck:
the ship's construction materials
the wreck becoming covered in sand or silt
the salinity of the water the wreck is in
the level of destruction involved in the ship's loss
whether the components or cargoof the wreck were salvaged
whether the wreck was demolished to clear a navigable channel
the depth of water at the wreck site
the strength of tidal currents or wave action at the wreck site
the exposure to surface weather conditions at the wreck site
the presence of marine animals that consume the ship's fabric
temperature
the acidity (or pH), and other chemical characteristics of the water at the site
The above-mentioned, especially the stratification (silt/sand sediments piled up on the shipwrecks) and the damages caused by marine creatures is better described as "stratification and contamination" of shipwrecks. The stratification not only creates another challenge for marine archaeology but also a challenge to its primary state, the state that it had when it sank.
Stratification includes several different types of sand and/or silt, as well as tumulus and encrustations. These "sediments" are tightly linked to the type of currents, depth, and the type of water (salinity, pH, etc.), which implies any chemical reactions that would lead to affecting the hypothetical/possible main cargo (such as wine, olive oil, spices, etc.).
Besides this geological phenomenon, wrecks also face the damage of marine creatures that create a home out of them; primarily being octopuses and crustaceans. These creatures affect the primary state because they move, or break, any parts of the shipwreck that are in their way, thereby affecting the original condition of amphorae, for example, or any other hollow places. Finally, in addition to the slight or severe destruction marine animals can create, there are also "external" contaminants, such as modern-day commodities, or contemporary pollution in bodies of water, that as well severely affect shipwrecks by changing the chemical structures, or even destroying or devastating even more of what is left of a specific ship.
All the above offers great challenges to the marine archaeologist when attempting to bind the pieces of a certain shipwreck together. Despite these challenges, if the information retrieved does not appear to be sufficient, or a poor preservation is achieved, authors like J.A. Parker claim that it is the historical value of the shipwreck that counts, as well as any slight piece of information and/or evidence that is acquired.[5]
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