"Thomas Wentworth" wrote
Roger ,,, what happens to the steel, iron, after so many years under
water? Doesn't it just turn back into rust or sand?


Roger Long wrote:
It's being eaten by iron loving bacteria that create the long fuzzy
things you see all over the wreck. About four tons a day is
disappearing. How did all these iron eating bugs end up in a desert
12,500 feet down where there is no other iron? One of life's
mysteries.


Lots of fascinating things... organisms from fish on down...
live in the deep ocean & nowhere else. There are many
species of little critters that live in oceanic volcanic
plumes at temperatures that seem impossible to sustain life.

Not only is the iron being eaten but the bodies have been
totally dissolved, including the bones. Chemistry works
different at such high pressures.

About the Titanic and ocean liners in general, there is
another USENET discussion group much like this one:
alt.history.ocean-liners.titanic which was very active some
years ago, discussing everything from what-ifs (the head-on
scenario, the California rescue, etc etc) to engineering
details.

There are also a LOT of interesting resources out there. Two
of the most interesting to me:

http://users.senet.com.au/~gittins/wheel.html
Right on the money, lots of other subjects, and the author
is also a cruising sailor with a lot of good stuff about
that too.

http://home.flash.net/~rfm/index/contents.html
The most unusual model of the Titanic you'll find, along
with a lot of info about the wreck as it happened and as she
is now.

Regards
Doug King