Well I live in Michigan so I really should know this one but I looked and can't find what I want to know. Lake Superior is the coldest of all of the Great Lakes.At it's warmest temp it is not usually over 40 degrees Fahrenheit.BRRRRRRRR for swimming!! But there is a saying about the lake and the shipwrecks that it don't give up it's dead.(Not just the Gordon Lightfoot song either )I have actually heard it from a few sources and yet I can not find why they say that.I assume it is true since whenever there is a boating accident or shipwreck they do not usually recover any bodies.Is it because the cold water makes the bodies less buoyant? Any input would be nice.I have wondered about this for a long time.Thanks *************************************************** 08-03-05, 10:35 AM DorianGreyed Wouldn't the colder water be denser, and thus even more buoyant that warmer water? Methos, get in here!
08-03-05, 10:35 AM aminator2002 The depth of the lake at the site of the Fitzgerald is 500 feet. I think that more than anything is why the wreck in Superior can not be salvaged.
08-03-05, 11:29 AM dangergurly9 I know that they can recover some of the wreckage.The Bell was recovered on July 4th 1995.It is now on display at Great Lakes Shipwrecks Museum.It is the bodies I am wondering about.There have been teens and some older people as well in past yrs who thought they could swim in it and thier bodies were never found either.I know it is a HUGE lake but it seems as though they would have found someone!
08-03-05, 01:10 PM methos Jeeze, less than 20 minutes after the question and DG's making demands Wink
Yes, water becomes more dense and therefore things in it become more buoyant when the water is colder. (On the other hand, the body becomes colder, and therefore more dense, as well - on balance, though, I would agree that temperature-related buoyancy isn't a likely cause).
However, it may not be as simple to exclude temperature as that. This is just speculation, but in thinking about temperature, I did think of one possibility. Bodies often sink at first,* and then float to the surface later. The reason for this is that the process of decaying generates gases trapped in body cavities, making the bodies more buoyant. In colder water, decay may be slow enough that there is too little accumulated gas to float the body.
*In a drowning (that is, when the lungs are filled with water), bodies typically sink at first because they are denser than water. If someone dies first, then ends up in the water, they usually float because of the air in their lungs
Of course, we're relying on anecdotal evidence that bodies do actually surface less in Lake Superior. Perhaps bodies surface even more rarely in Ontario, in which case I'd have to come up with some other scientific-sounding speculation (or maybe just steal DG's bit about buoyancy) Wink
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A body in water will usually sink but because the specific gravity of a body is very close to that of water then small variations e.g. air trapped in clothing have a considerable effect on buoyancy. Having sunk to the bottom the body will remain there until putrefactive gas formation decreases the specific gravity of the body and creates sufficient buoyancy to allow it to rise to the surface and float. Heavy clothing and weights attached to the body may delay but will not usually prevent the body rising.
Putrefaction proceeds at a slower rate in water than in air, in sea water than in fresh water and in running water than in stagnant water. The principal determinant is the temperature of the water so that in deep very cold water e.g. the North American Great Lakes or the ocean the body may never resurface.
**************************************************** 08-03-05, 01:50 PM DorianGreyed Well, at least got the part about colder water bneing denser and allowing more bouyancy right. For me in a science category, that's pretty good. Big Grin
08-03-05, 02:34 PM methos Good find, Professor.
Especially with the last section in the quote, it's hard to imagine a more direct answer to this question, and I'm glad to see a forensic medicine program confirming my guess.
DG - Do we grade on an improvement scale? Wink
08-03-05, 02:44 PM DorianGreyed I hope so, because I really have learned a great deal here.
08-03-05, 02:49 PM Professor
quote: Good find, Professor
I'm starting to get the hang of Google Smile
08-03-05, 03:34 PM dangergurly9 Thank you very much...guess I was looking in all the wrong places. Roll Eyes Professor, thank you for your hard work at improving on google Wink.Great find! I knew it had something to do with the cold water..just wasn't sure what. Big Grin ***************************** Late Edit: It is the average temperature of Lake Superior that is 40°F, not its warmest temperature. Lake Superior Facts
This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,
Posts: 1950 | Location: U.S. | Registered: 06-03-02
Lake Superior is the coldest of all of the Great Lakes.At it's warmest temp it is not usually over 40 degrees Fahrenheit.BRRRRRRRR for swimming!! But there is a saying about the lake and the shipwrecks that it don't give up it's dead.(Not just the Gordon Lightfoot song either 
)I have actually heard it from a few sources and yet I can not find why they say that.I assume it is true since whenever there is a boating accident or shipwreck they do not usually recover any bodies.Is it because the cold water makes the bodies less buoyant? Any input would be nice.I have wondered about this for a long time.Thanks
