Newsgroup: it.discussioni.misteri
Titolo: [MAELSTROM] FINALMENTE UNA CONFERMA ...VISUALE ?

Al sito
http://wwwspace.ffi.no/SpaceWeb/RSGroup/Mosken1.html
ci sono una sequenza di foto del Maelstrom fatte dallo spazio.
Leggiamo, poi,  quanto segue:
*****Introduction
Between Moskenesøy and Værøy in the Lofoten archipelago resides
one of the most famous oceanographic features in the world; the
Maelstrøm. The mighty forces in the Maelstrøm (or the Moskenes
Current as it is usually called by Norwegians) have frightened
sailors
and fishermen, and fascinated writers and artists for centuries.
With the launch of the European radar satellite ERS-1 in 1991, it
is now
possible to take a closer look at the ways of the Maelstrøm. The
ERS-1 satellite orbits the Earth at 780 km altitude, looking down
with a
synthetic aperture radar (SAR) through clouds, fog, and polar
night. Its successor (ERS-2) was launched in April 1995.
****The Maelstrøm in the literature
In Homer's classic epic "The Odyssey", the ancient Greek hero
Ulysses had to rely on advice from a goddess to avoid the
dangerous
whirlpool Charybdis in the Messina Strait between Italy and
Sicily. In those days, Norway was definitely not the most
civilized place of
the world, and Ulysses never came to see the Lofoten islands.
However, Norwegian fishermen soon learnt that an even more
powerful
tidal current guarded the rich Lofoten fishing grounds.
In Norwegian folklore, there are fairytales explaining the
seemingly chaotic flow in the Moskenes Sound as the result of two
trolls stirring
the water in opposite directions. The first detailed description
of the Moskenes Current can be found in a book by the Swedish
bishop
Olaus Magnus (1490-1557), where both a dramatic drawing and the
text itself tell that this was a dangerous phenomenon. The mighty
powers of the Maelstrøm are explained by Olaus Magnus as
manifestations of divine forces, incomprehensible to humans.
However, in
the works of the Norwegian priest Petter Dass 150 years later,
one finds a detailed geophysical description (in elegant verse
form!) of the
Maelstrøm, stating that the key factors are the tidal flow, the
topography, and the bathymetry.
In Edgar Allan Poe's "A Descent into the Maelstrom" (1845) we
hear the dramatic story of a Norwegian fisherman who has survived
a
close encounter with the giant whirlpool, his black hair turning
white by the experience. Also, the Maelstrøm was the place where
Captain
Nemo and his submarine "Nautilus" ended their journey in Jules
Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea" (1869). Neither
Poe
nor Verne had actually ever seen the Maelstrøm, and so their
description of the great whirlpool may be a bit
exaggerated..........
ERS-1 images
We present here two glimpses of the Maelstrøm, as observed from
the ERS-1 satellite.
26 March 1993: This ERS-1 SAR image (Figure 2) was taken 2h27min
before high tide, near expected maximum inflow. The image does
indeed show a strong eastward flow through the Moskenes Sound.
Notice how the current jet bifurcates into two parts, forming
backwater. The difference between high and low tide in the area
was 208 cm on this day.
20 August 1994: This ERS-1 SAR image (Figure 3) was taken 2 hours
before high tide, one day prior to full Moon. Here, two separate
ingoing jets can be seen. The two jets are very similar in shape,
but of different size. The borderline between the inflow and the
backwater gives enhanced radar backscatter, and appears bright in
the SAR image. Notice that the borderline for the largest jet is
located
exactly at the location predicted by a local map (shown in Figure
1). The August 1994 image is taken with a different aspect angle
than
the March 1993 image. This makes the mountainous islands look
rather different.
We see that these ERS-1 SAR images definitely show signatures of
a strong and complex flow in the Moskenes Sound. However, no
direct sign of the great whirlpool has been seen so far. It is
worth noticing that no two ERS-1 SAR images studied so far have
shown
identical current signatures.
Conclusions
Radar satellites offer a new means of obtaining synoptic
"snapshots" of ocean processes unfolding in coastal waters. The
Moskenes
Sound is a natural laboratory where old myths meet high-tech
satellite remote sensing. ERS-1 SAR images have shown that there
are
indeed very active currents in the Moskenes Sound, but a SAR
manifestation of the great whirlpool has so far not been found.
However,
no two ERS-1 SAR images of the area have looked the same so far.
So perhaps, on a stormy night under a full Moon, ERS-2 will have
a
close encounter with this Charybdis of the North....
--------------------------------------------
Cioè: la corrente forte c'è, e il gorgo "potrebbe"
verificarsi...in determinate condizioni (brividi e forte
spavento).
stànz

 stŕnz
 Non so se ricordo bene, ma mi sembra che su un Focus si affermava che
il Maelstrom e' assolutamente innocuo ?!?!  e' pericoloso o no ??
Ciao,
            Luca
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