Scientists Study Mystery Mounds Under Hood Canal

Hood Canal is in western Washington State. I find this story very interesting. Considering how seismically unsound The area is. Also, Hood Canal [link to en.wikipedia.org] is at the foot of the Olympic Mountains. Locally it's known as a "dead zone". The water oxygen levels have been so low the last decade that their is often large fish die offs.

[link to www.komonews.com]
SEATTLE (AP) - Washington scientists guessed that mysterious mounds hundreds of feet below the surface of Hood Canal were deposited by Ice Age glaciers or built up by natural gas seeps or geothermal vents.

After taking a closer look with a remote control camera they have another theory: Underwater landslides.

There are two dome-shaped mounds, each more than 100 feet high and more than 1,000 feet wide, on the bottom at the south end of the canal near Lilliwaup.

They were able to rule out glacial deposits, which are usually ridge-shaped.

Department scientists first noticed the mounds in sonar maps made by the University of Washington in the canal, which is not manmade. It's a 68-mile fjord on the west of Puget Sound. Hood Canal is a popular area for vacation homes. It's also the location for the Navy's submarine base at Bangor, home to the West Coast Trident fleet.

Last Edited by deanoZXT on 11/30/2012 08:44 PM