| Marine Archaeology has become an increasingly | | | | Excavation |
| popular career choice, as improvement in scuba gear | | | | Lift bags: used to bring artifacts to the surface; they |
| and diving equipment has made previously inaccessible | | | | consist of metal baskets attached to balloons. The |
| parts of the deep sea reachable by mankind. | | | | balloons' buoyancy lifts heavy objects to the surface |
| However, the dangers of the ocean make this game a | | | | without human aid. |
| little trickier than what may seem as simple as | | | | Airlifts: remove silts and sediments from around the |
| 'archaeology in a wetsuit'. | | | | archaeological site with a tubular system to speed up |
| The Riskso Nitrogen narcosis: Nitrogen gas is toxic at | | | | excavation and improve visibility. |
| pressure (or below sea level) and can cause the diver | | | | Recording |
| to go into a drugged-like state if inhaledo The cold: | | | | Electrolysis for preservation of articles underwater: |
| Often Marine Archaeologists have to dive to great | | | | When old metal objects are brought to the surface, |
| depths in order to reach the shipwrecks or historical | | | | the air reacts with the sea salts sitting on the metal to |
| treasures that they are excavating. And the deeper a | | | | form an acid that eats away at the objects. By using |
| diver goes, the more colder the water gets. On top of | | | | electrolysis underwater, an archaeologist can prevent |
| this, water conducts heat away from the body, so | | | | this from happening. The prevention process involves |
| hyperthermia can set in after too much time | | | | placing the object in a chemical solution and sending an |
| underwater.o Because of the dangerous nooks and | | | | electric current through the chemical to remove the |
| crannies in wrecks and caves, becoming trapped | | | | salts. |
| underwater is a real risk for archaeologists, even with | | | | Other diving equipment that Marine Archaeologists |
| all the advanced equipment they use while diving | | | | require as part of their scuba gear are metal |
| Technical Diving Equipment | | | | measuring tape, underwater cameras and pencils and |
| Position fixing | | | | plastic dive slates for sketches. |
| These days a GPS (Global Positioning System) is used | | | | The Rewards |
| for navigational purposes when seeking out a | | | | While archaeological sites above sea level have been |
| shipwreck. | | | | largely explored, underwater sites still hold a great deal |
| Finding artifacts | | | | of mystery for the explorer.o Marine Archaeology has |
| The Scan Sonar: Sounds waves are sent over a | | | | been invaluable in giving us a picture of historical trading |
| seabed and an image of the waves will show if there | | | | routeso Shipwrecks provide an era frozen in time; |
| is anything abnormal, such as a shipwreck, on the | | | | while scenes for the early twentieth century have to |
| seabed. | | | | be recreated on land, the remains of the Titanic shows |
| Submersibles: Submersible are robotic submarines | | | | us the 'real' 1912o Lost treasure and valuable artifacts |
| which can explore marine levels that are too deep for | | | | can be uncovered in the name of science and history |
| human exploration. This method was partially used to | | | | As far as careers go, Marine Archaeology, like its |
| explore the Titanic. | | | | terrestrial equivalent, is hard work and underpaid and |
| Proton Magnetometer: This is used in order to find | | | | the diver requires a great deal of expensive scuba |
| metal artifacts on the seabed. The magnetometer | | | | gear and diving equipment for expeditions, but it's one |
| picks up distortions in earth's magnetic field that are | | | | of the more rewarding and interesting careers out |
| caused by metal objects to uncover metal artifacts | | | | there. |
| such as cannons. | | | | |