Just a (hopefully) quick question:

I know humans and others of Earth's surface creatures would not "pop" when suddenly exposed to vacuum, despite what some low-budget sci-fi flicks might have you believe.

Question is whether or not something that lived in the deep ocean might, as the change in pressure from what they're used to is far greater.

Thoughts?


Thanks! --Nahks

If I remember correctly (not likely though), deep sea creatures survive more because they are the same pressure inside and outside.

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Well, right - similar case for surface dwellers, too. Which is why I thought that the change in outside pressure for deep sea creatures from deep sea to vacuum could yield more... er, unfortunate... results.

(shrug)

Some deep sea creatures "pop" when brought up to normal water pressure, let alone vacuum. Makes for creative sampling techniques, when trying to bring such things up for study. I don't know exactly what critters these are though, but I'd hazard a guess that tube worms, jellyfish and similar squishy things would be the first to go, but crabs and bony fish probably would survive.

Maybe hit google? I'll see if I can find anything, but I've only got a spare minute or two...

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I went fishing once when I was a kid in Texas at South Padre. Grandpa took me on a charter boat fishing for red snapper. I remember that we had electric reels and were fishing in about 80-90 feet of water. If you brought the fish up too fast their bladders(floaters) would burst.

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While people would not explode, if you were shoved out the air lock you would suffer one hell of a case of the bends, depending on how fast the decompression is. A slow air leak would suffocate you before the hemhorraging got bad. But a quick one might do some damage. I think the limit for vacuum survival is a couple of minutes.

For fish, it depends on the kind of creature it is and what depth it is used to being at. Benthic creatures that sit at the bottom all the time are pressurized to live down there, so they would suffer massive internal bleeding and such and probably just disintegrate. Fish are different -- some species live deep but come up regularly, so they can adjust. (Lantern fish are one, I think).

But for a lot of deep-dwelling fish, the interesting thing is that the ones that stay down don't have an organ called a swim bladder. That's an internal bag of gas that allows fish to change depth. Really deep dwelling fish don't have one, because if they did they would get crushed. So I suppose if there are deep dwelling fish that have swim bladders because they come up to certain depths but not far towards the surface, then they wuold proabbly suffer a ruptured bladder if yanked up.

Any icthyologists out there?

So long as the deep sea creatures were brought up to normal depths, say, about a foot, as would be experienced in an aquarium, and slowly enough to allow normal changes to the blood gas chemistry, they'd be fine.

That is, however, for those sea creatures who can withstand 1 ATM of pressure. Quite a few simply can't, as, physiologically, their body chemistry is dependant on bone-crushing pressure.

Thread necromancy alert! Almost 4 years.

Fred

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You know, if threads have been too deep into the past, and are brought to the present too quickly, they can "pop" too.

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One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

Are you still writing 2008 on your checks too? It's almost five (5) years old.

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No, the checks get 2009.

Fred

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"For shame, gentlemen, pack your evidence a little better against another time."
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I usually avoid it by never going beyond page 1 in a section when selecting interesting topics for a response. Don't know what happened, here...

Bold mine. Allow me to elaborate.

The ones that just can't, no matter how slowly you bring them up, are the ones who have cellular protiens that maintain their shape due to the hydrostatic pressure and they unfold and become useless as they pressure eases off. (I'm only barely familiar with the shapes of proteins issue)

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Science fiction was never meant to be an educational tool. - Editor Amazing Tales

BD, I salute the depth of your knowledge, and enthusiasm to share it.

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If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. CARL SAGAN

Mak: Pass the pepperoni please.
Fazor: "Hail, Bautainia! We pledge our hearts to thee! Science and woo, some babbling too, and astron-oh-meee!"
slang: And it made ash out of yew and tree.

There's a thermodynamic effect on chemical reactions generally, too. Reactions in which the products have a lower volume than the reactants are favoured by high pressure; and the reverse is also true.
The pressure also affects cell membranes, which become more rigid with increasing pressure. Piezophile organisms have a different mix of fatty acids in the lipid bilayer, to maintain fluidity.

Grant Hutchison

That comment was abysmal.

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strait from my heart

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clear skies

If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. CARL SAGAN

Mak: Pass the pepperoni please.
Fazor: "Hail, Bautainia! We pledge our hearts to thee! Science and woo, some babbling too, and astron-oh-meee!"
slang: And it made ash out of yew and tree.