Shock-Wave Tomography on Oak Island

Posted on November 13, 2018 by vanbraman

Tonight I watched the two hour season premier of The Curse of Oak Island. This is the sixth season of the series on the History Channel.

Curse of Oak Island, History Channel, Did they find anything?This year it looks like a lot of things will be happening on Oak Island. The intro into the episode tonight showed a lot of highlights from later in the season and it will be interesting to see how they get to those points in the show.

Oak Island, Money Pit, National Geographic, Curse of Oak IslandWill they find a treasure vault this year? There are definitely hints in what they showed tonight that they will find something significant.

This year they will be using some new technology and also be constructing a large coffer dam to investigate Smith’s Cove. They showed footage of the completed coffer dam in the intro and it is impressive.

Curse of Oak Island, Mahone Bay, Nova ScotiaThey are also looking at sites on the island from one end to the other as they piece together the history of the island.

I like this show for the mix of the mystery, archaeology, technology and history. It definitely wanders all over the place, so it also appeals to me for that 🙂

Shock-wave tomography, ground penetrating waves, search for water system, tel lachishOne of the coolest things they will be doing this year is using shock-wave tomography to hunt for features underground. This technology has been used for decades in oil and gas exploration, but has been refined for use in smaller areas.

computed tomography, shock-waves, ground survey, tel lachishThe summer before last I observed a very manual version of this technology being used at our dig site at Lachish in Israel. See: Manual Shock-Wave Tomography

At Lachish they used a sledge hammer to produce shock-waves, but at Oak Island they will be using small dynamite charges that are electronically triggered.

Shock Wave Sensors, TomoBoth however rely on an array of detectors that detect the returning shock waves.

Tomography, Archaeology, Search for Water System, Tel LachishOf course, these waves are then analyzed by a computer to determine what is underneath the surface.

Tonight on the first episode of The Curse of Oak Island they ran a trial across an area with a known tunnel and found it in the results. They have also given a sneak peak of later results in the intro and it looks like they will definitely find something big. The big question however is how will they act on the data that they collect.

I will definitely be watching the show this year to see what they find.

Steven

 

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Monday Wandering Thoughts

Posted on November 12, 2018 by vanbraman

Tonight I was unable to go out and walk for the third straight day.

Air Quality Index, Unhealthy airYesterday the air was Very Unhealthy with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 262. I sheltered in place most of the day and still had a headache from all the smoke.

Air Quality Index, 164, UnhealthyToday the AQI was much less at 164, but still Unhealthy. I opted to stay inside tonight, although I did embarrass myself by walking down to the mailbox to check the mail. I realized as I opened the mail box that mail was not delivered today.

It was nice to have only a 25 minute drive to work this morning 🙂

Hazardous AQI, 500 AQI, Paradise. California, FiresI did check to see how bad the AQI was in Paradise which is where the latest fires are that are affecting the area. The AQI is Hazardous at 500, but it is really much worse as the scale tops out at 500.

I have some friends who live in Paradise, but thankfully they are safe with their daughter in the Bay Area. They are not sure what has happened with their house yet.

Puritan Pedigrees, Great Migration, Charles Anderson, History, GenealogyI also got a notification today that Puritan Pedigrees: The Deep Roots of the Great Migration to New England by Robert Charles Anderson was available for pre-order from the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Of course, I am now waiting for late December when my copy will be shipped. See my post: Migrations

Curse of Oak Island, History Channel, Did they find anything?Since I was unable to go walking I have been watching the History Channel as they went through much of the last season of The Curse of Oak Island in preparation for the first episode of the new season on Tuesday night. I saw a few clips for the season and it looks like there will be some exciting things happening.

See my post: Oak Island

I also spent some time digging through my clothes archive tonight and pulling out some smaller sized pants. They are in the laundry as they fit comfortably again.

Steven

 

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