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Submarine Cable Map

submarinecablemap.com

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Re: Submarine Cable Map

#11

Post by kijin »

mikeocool wrote: post #6
verelo wrote: post #4

I've always wondered where they are. Can you imagine just how long it took to wrap a wire around the whole world a few times over? The thing that shocks me is how recently these were added. I was checking out the cables in Australia, expecting them to have been added in the 60's or something....however most are around the year 2000-2010.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, almost all the transatlantic cables seemed to have been laid in the 2000s as well. I ran across this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_telecommunication... Seems like each cable generally only has a life of 10-20 years.

Hmm, then what happens to outdated cables? Do we pull them up, or do we just turn off a switch at the shore and leave the rest in the ocean? Do the cables contain any substance that might pollute the seabed as the casing degrades away?

Re: Submarine Cable Map

#14

Post by dmd »

kijin wrote: post #11
mikeocool wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, almost all the transatlantic cables seemed to have been laid in the 2000s as well. I ran across this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_telecommunication... Seems like each cable generally only has a life of 10-20 years.

Hmm, then what happens to outdated cables? Do we pull them up, or do we just turn off a switch at the shore and leave the rest in the ocean? Do the cables contain any substance that might pollute the seabed as the casing degrades away?

Probably, but we dump orders of magnitude more crap (both in volume and in hazard) in the ocean every day.

Plus, the impact from burning the fuel it would take to have a ship pull up a cable would be thousands of times worse than anything the cable might do.

Re: Submarine Cable Map

#17

Post by jerf »

kijin wrote: post #10
leeoniya wrote: post #3

this network is probably the 8th man-made wonder of the world. it makes the Great Wall of China seem benign by comparison.

> seem benign by comparison. So, this network is malicious by comparison?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/benign , definition 3b: "having no significant effect : harmless"

The least common usage of the term, true, but perfectly valid. (Probably going to be "archaic" in another 50 or 100 years.)

Re: Submarine Cable Map

#18

Post by marshray »

kijin wrote: post #11
mikeocool wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, almost all the transatlantic cables seemed to have been laid in the 2000s as well. I ran across this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_telecommunication... Seems like each cable generally only has a life of 10-20 years.

Hmm, then what happens to outdated cables? Do we pull them up, or do we just turn off a switch at the shore and leave the rest in the ocean? Do the cables contain any substance that might pollute the seabed as the casing degrades away?

I'm sure they're left in place.

I can't imagine what materials they would be made of that would be particularly harmful. My sense is they're mostly constructed of things like rubber, plastics, other polymers, steel, copper, and of course a little glass fiber.

Re: Submarine Cable Map

#19

Post by derda »

kijin wrote: post #11
mikeocool wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, almost all the transatlantic cables seemed to have been laid in the 2000s as well. I ran across this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_telecommunication... Seems like each cable generally only has a life of 10-20 years.

Hmm, then what happens to outdated cables? Do we pull them up, or do we just turn off a switch at the shore and leave the rest in the ocean? Do the cables contain any substance that might pollute the seabed as the casing degrades away?

Given the high price of copper I would guess that they pull the copper cables out after service. I am not so sure about fiber cables.
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