27-03-2005 23:02									#1
	Which Is Higher? Atlantic Ocean Or Pacific Ocean? Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

Normaly I would answer that they are the same as they are both at sealevel.
In my daughter's social studies book on the Panama Canal it has a drawing of the canal showing the locks and how it works.


I Swear it shows the Pacific Ocean higher than the Atlantic ocean


access the textbook online, go to www.tx.owt.glencoe.com
type in username OWTTX, password chUth9thaW


Go to Unit 7
chapter 21
page 562-563

	28-03-2005 00:02									#2
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It can vary due to tidal differences, which will be larger on the Pacific side. That doesn't answer your question though.

I find it more amusing that you go east to west to pass from the west to east of the isthmus.

	28-03-2005 00:07									#3
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Thinking about it a moment, different heights at either end would be present due to the spin of the Earth making sea level higher on the end nearer the equator. i.e the southern end which is the Pacific side.

	28-03-2005 00:17									#4
	Re: Which Is Higher? Atlantic Ocean Or Pacific Ocean? Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

quote: Originally posted by Docfeelgood Normaly I would answer that they are the same as they are both at sealevel. In my daughter's social studies book on the Panama Canal it has a drawing of the canal showing the locks and how it works. I Swear it shows the Pacific Ocean higher than the Atlantic ocean access the textbook online, go to www.tx.owt.glencoe.com type in username OWTTX, password chUth9thaW Go to Unit 7 chapter 21 page 562-563

It's because they have to go over a big hill called land.

	28-03-2005 00:20									#5
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It's hard to dig a canal all the way to sea level the whole way, so they build the locks going up until they get to the middle at which point the locks go down again. At least, that's what I'd guess as the reason.

	28-03-2005 01:22									#6
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You guys aren't looking at the picture. There's an inset in it that shows the atlantic on one side and the pacific on the other of the canal. It has a line that says "Level of the Atlantic" and it is slightly under that of the Pacific.

That's hard to imagine though. I question whether its true.

	28-03-2005 01:29									#7
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lets consult the torah code!

	28-03-2005 01:32									#8
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The Arctic is also lower than the Pacific.

	28-03-2005 01:34									#9
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And the Username and password doesn't work anymore.

	28-03-2005 01:38									#10
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quote: Originally posted by Kuciwalker It's hard to dig a canal all the way to sea level the whole way, so they build the locks going up until they get to the middle at which point the locks go down again. At least, that's what I'd guess as the reason.

yeah an they may have had a lake in the middle. Or was that the suez?

I never crossed the Panama canal in a navy ship, but I've crossed the Suez many times (which has no locks).

But yes I've always known one is higher than the other. I can't remember which- Pacific I think. I never knew the reason for that though. And it's weird when you think all the world's oceans are connected near Antartica (except for the artic ocean )

	28-03-2005 01:39									#11
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quote: Originally posted by Dissident yeah an they may have had a lake in the middle. Or was the the suez.

No, there's definately a lake. It's why they picked the route.

	28-03-2005 02:04									#12
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quote: Originally posted by Dauphin Thinking about it a moment, different heights at either end would be present due to the spin of the Earth making sea level higher on the end nearer the equator. i.e the southern end which is the Pacific side.

If that was the difficulty then there would be no need for locks, as ideally the surface of the water is an equipotential surface. Though you get further away from the earth's centre as you go toward the equator you do not have to "climb" at all.

Same thing goes for a tidal bulge.

	28-03-2005 02:07									#13
	Re: Re: Which Is Higher? Atlantic Ocean Or Pacific Ocean? Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

quote: Originally posted by Kuciwalker It's because they have to go over a big hill called land.

Actually, different seas are often at different levels. There are geological and meteorological forces which have the tendency to preserve an imbalance. IIRC the Pacific is something like an average of 6 metres higher than the atlantic. They're flat on the scale of the whole planet, but on the human scale there's a measurable imbalance.

	28-03-2005 02:18									#14
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Sea level doesn't really exist. It is a theoretic tool that enables relative comparisons.

Actual sea levels fluctuate regularly, while overall the trend is ever-higher levels. That would lead us into an environmental discussion. I am not going there.

The earth's rotation, weather and seismic activity would be things that might be expected to affect sea level; as would the variable volume of displacement due to transiting alien spacecraft.

	28-03-2005 02:29									#15
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quote: Sea level doesn't really exist. It is a theoretic tool that enables relative comparisons

Duh. Nobody ever said that every piece of the Pacific is always at the exact same level.

Do you get your rocks off stating the obvious?

	28-03-2005 02:37									#16
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So, what would happen if the locks were removed and water could flow unopposed from the high side to the low side? Could this be used to generate electricity?

	28-03-2005 02:40									#17
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a) yes

b) the flow would be insufficient to change the actual levels of the sea (by many many orders of magnitude)

	28-03-2005 02:41									#18
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So it'd be a virtually limitless source of power.

EDIT: except in terms of the rate at which we can generate it.

	28-03-2005 02:41									#19
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Though a difference of 6 metres over ~60 km is a dumbass way to generate hydro...

	28-03-2005 02:42									#20
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quote: Originally posted by Kuciwalker So it'd be a virtually limitless source of power.

Limited by how many trenches you are willing to dig.

There are already much more available hydroelectric sources...

	28-03-2005 02:43									#21
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quote: Originally posted by Smiley So, what would happen if the locks were removed and water could flow unopposed from the high side to the low side?

There'd still be a mountain range in the way.

	28-03-2005 02:52									#22
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what if they dug it deep enough so that it was a straight shot.

	28-03-2005 02:52									#23
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SDee my post.

	28-03-2005 02:53									#24
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quote: Originally posted by MRT144 what if they dug it deep enough so that it was a straight shot.

me thinks that's not a good idea.

edit: I guess I could see how it would work. I was thinking there was greater than 6 m height difference. I was envisioning a fast white water rapid. Ships would not be able to traverse that. But 6 m over such a long distance wouldn't have too high a rate of water flow. It coudld work I suppose.

But unlike Civ2, terraforming mountians down to hills, and then down to grasslands is not so easy

	28-03-2005 03:02									#25
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Be better off building generators for the Gulf Current.

	28-03-2005 07:56									#26
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The water in the Panama canal is fresh water from the Chagres River, which is short but has a heavy volume- most of the canal is an artificial lake. And the land is uneven, the canal is NOT straight, so getting rid of the lock would not create much flow at all, if any. This was a fundamentally different dig from Suez.

	28-03-2005 08:01									#27
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IN fact, the locks are mainly to get ships high enough to traverse the Canal, which is at a higher level than either Oceans.

In essence, ships come from either side, get lifted to cross the artificial lake over the highlands, get to the other set of locks, they are brought down, and the trip continues.

	29-03-2005 02:13									#28
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quote: Originally posted by MRT144 lets consult the torah code!

Ya don't actually belive that stuff do ya?

	29-03-2005 02:15									#29
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quote: Originally posted by GePap IN fact, the locks are mainly to get ships high enough to traverse the Canal, which is at a higher level than either Oceans.

Which is what I said

	29-03-2005 02:19									#30
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So which is heavier?
100 pounds of lead or 100lbs of feathers?

Hundred pounds is a hundred pounds such as sealevel is sealevel.

All the oceans that are at sealevel are the same height.