What do you think might happen if we detonated the most powerful nuclear bomb such as the RDS-220 hydrogen bomb or the Tsar Bomba in the deepest considered point on earth?
A lot of people believe that it might cause shock waves through the ocean and might trigger a tsunami (well that’s what I used to think) or causes the Earth to change its orbit or even cause a major volcanic eruption. None of this would happen.
This is what would actually happen…
When the bomb detonates in the lowest part of the Mariana trench, the heat of the explosion will cause a cavity, a flaming bubble of water vapor, radioactive nuclei, and the remains of some sea creatures. This glowing bubble grows quickly in size, vaporizing the water around it. The pressure in this bubble is immense and plows outwards from the deep underground valley, sending off a shockwave that will be felt by seismic systems and whales. And then almost as fast as it grows, it stops. Why??
On the surface of the earth this bomb would grow up to 10kms the second it’s detonated but this won’t happen in the trench. This is because the pressure on the deepest point in the Mariana Trench is so enormous that it acts like an 11km hydraulic press from all directions thus, shrinking the bubble that grew a kilometer across by now. This bubble now tries to overextend itself thus now losing the pressure it contains. The water now recompresses it and wins the fight between the death bubble and itself letting the turbulent waves chop it up (the bubble) into smaller radioactive bubbles. When this mighty blast rises to the surface, it does basically nothing. Just some warm radioactive water will dilute in the pacific and the evaporated particles will come down as rain. Not what you were expecting right?
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