Assessing the Impact of Typhoons on Historic Iron Shipwrecks in Chuuk Lagoon Through Changes in the Corrosion Microenvironment

Bibliographic Data

ID20499254
AuthorsIan D MacLeod (0000-0002-2947-3587, Western Australian Maritime Museum, Fremantle, Australia, corresponding author), Allison Selman (Glass Bottom Films, Perth, Australia), Chris Selman (0000-0002-1277-5538, Glass Bottom Films, Perth, Australia)
Year2017
Volume19
Issue4
Pages269-287
Publication date2017-10-02
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueConservation and Management of Archaeological Sites (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1350-5033 • E-ISSN: 1753-5522
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13505033.2017.1378536
OpenAlexW2936375275
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited13

The corrosion microenvironment of a dozen Second World War iron shipwrecks in Chuuk Lagoon, Federated States of Micronesia, was investigated to see if there were any measurable changes caused by a recent major typhoon. Seven previously inspected wreck sites were used for calibration to assess the environmental impacts. Five new wrecks, including the Fumitzuki, a destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy, were assessed at up to twice the depth of previous studies. The new data showed that the logarithm of the corrosion rate falls linearly with depth to 36 m. Measurements of corrosion potentials, concretion thickness and pH showed that many of the vessels suffered partial deconcretion during the typhoon Maysak in April 2015 with concomitant increases in the rate of decay. Regrowth of the colonising marine organisms are presently ameliorating the impact of the typhoon

Archaeology · Corrosion · Geography · Metallurgy · Navy · Typhoon · Building materials and conservation · Conservation Techniques and Studies · Environmental Science · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology · Materials Science · Geology · Oceanography

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