Hi Toni

My only experience with this system is anecdotal (although I have some printed gumpf).  It was recently tried in an airborne survey for the missing Australian cruiser, HMAS Sydney and its victim, the raider Kormoran, in a search off the Western Australian coast.  Subsequent media coverage suggested that they had achieved some success but the results were totally unsupported. In fact, there was some antagonism regarding the supposed discovey (or potential discovery) due to the war grave issue and raising hopes.  I know that the Australian arm of NUMA is involved in the trials to some extent, with some proposed field testing off the eastern Australian coast.  The general reaction that I have been picking up is that there is little, if any, data on its appplication/successes to date or range of detection (some feeling that it may be as useful as divining rods!), but always ready to be shown up!

Cheers

Tim 



Tim Smith
Maritime Archaeologist
NSW Heritage Office
Locked Bag 5020 Parramatta NSW 2124
AUSTRALIA

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Secretary AIMA
Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology Inc.
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Beneath Gallipoli: The underwater archaeological survey of the Gallipoli battlefields

Project Maritime Archaeologist
PROJECT AE2: The investigation of Australia's AE2 submarine wrecked at GAllipoli
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>>> [log in to unmask] 01/11/2001 >>>
Hi Everyone

I have recently stumbled across a web site on a remote sensing instrument
that claims to be able to locate minerals and other compounds in very small
concentrations (parts per billion) or large masses of materials, such as oil
fields or mineral concentrations.  The principal use of this system to date
has been for oil and gas exploration, minerals exploration, and
environmental cleanup monitoring.  They also claim to be able to detect
shipwrecks from airborne surveys at 5,000 feet to a distance of 50 nautical
miles.

The system uses the principle of electron spin resonance to detect elements
and compounds.  According to their web page, after tuning the instrument, if
the desired substance is present (iron or coal, for example) in the ground
or in the water at any depth, the micro energy (above background) from the
resonating target is detected by their system.  In addition to other things,
using this system they claim to have found several very deep water
shipwrecks.

Is anyone out there familiar with this system?  With this company?  With
this process?
Their web page is at http://albury.net.au/~kipl/ 

Thanks in advance for any help.  Feel free to reply directly to me or via
this list.

Regards,
Toni Carrell