Mercury onboard Titanic

[Matt Pereira]

Ok, Ive seen this multiple times of Two barrles of mercury aboard the Titanic.

My question is would the Mercury still be within the hold where it was stored?

I know the chances are the barrles are rotted away but im not sure if mercury and water mixes or if the mercury would form like oil dose in water and make small blobs and collect in an area.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>My question is would the Mercury still be within the hold where it was stored?<<

Very probably it is. I don't think you'll find it mixes with water. While it's a liquid at room temperature, it's also a very heavy metal.

 

[Matt Pereira]

I wonder if any expiditions into the cargo holds found traces of the mercury. Maybe thats why theres creatures there that we dont know about maybe the mercury mutated them lmao

But I wouldnt know, I just seen it a few times in the cargo manifest when i was thumbing through it and was curious if it would still be there, i know mercury if you pour it onto a table it will ball up and roll around, but wasnt sure if it disolved with water.

 

[Dave Gittins]

Mercury might not have caused mutations, but it sure would have poisoned some marine life. At one time it was used in anti-fouling.

In my younger days we could handle bottles of mercury in the school laboratory and the weight of a small bottle was amazing. I think the specific gravity is about 13.

Luckily, nobody skin dives the wreck!

 

[Matt Pereira]

Im sure it poisoned a good deal of marine life that resides on the wreck, Just dosent amaze me at what was shipped I figure the mercury was being shiped for use in thermometers since they still were using mercury in them.

 

[Dave Gittins]

Mercury is still widely used in thermometers, barometers and other instruments. I have a fine wet and dry bulb thermometer handy. It's probably less seen in thermometers intended for home use.

 

[Matt Pereira]

I havent seen a Mercury thermometer for years i mean i have a few of those old mercury thermometer that was used for checking your temp, but i havent seen them in stores