SciFi Busters: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

by Tiffany Citra '17

1 league = 3.452 mi = 5.556 km [image via]

Often regarded as the father of science fiction, Jules Verne has written a lot of work involving science and technology far ahead of its era. But how exactly accurate is the science portrayed on his writing? Let’s examine the credibility of the assertions Verne makes in one of his most notable books, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

The story starts with Professor Pierre Aronnax, who embarks on a mission to hunt down a mysterious “giant narwhal”. However, when he finally comes in contact with his target, his ship can’t resist the “narwhals” strength and eventually falls apart. Luckily, he survives and discovers that the “narwhal” is in fact a submarine. Upon discovering his presence, Nemo – the captain of the submarine, which is known as the Nautilus – brings him into the vessel. Despite being kept as a prisoner, Professor Aronnax is taken on a journey across the sea to explore things not yet discovered by mankind.

So how about the science?

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Can we build a submarine the size of the Nautilus?

Yes, but not at the time the book was first published in 1870. The submarines in the late 1800s and early 1900s were much smaller and slower in comparison to the Nautilus. The Nautilus is 230 feet long and 26 feet wide, and its speed is approximately 33 mph. Measuring 204 feet by 27 feet, the USS Albacore (1953) is one of the modern day submarines similar to the Nautilus, reaching a top-speed of 38 mph [1]. It is impossible, however, for a large submarine like the Nautilus to dive 10 miles below sea level, as occurs in the novel.  Even the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean, is “only” about 7 miles deep. The Deepsea Challenger and Trieste are the only manned vessels that have reached the Mariana Trench, and both of them can fit only one and two people, respectively [2]. 

Model of the Nautilus as depicted in the 1954 movie adaptation. [image via]

Is it possible that Atlantis really exists?

Halfway through their expedition, Captain Nemo shows Professor Aronnax the exact location of where Atlantis allegedly sank. This, however, can’t be true [3] due to the different density between the continental crust that Atlantis would have sat on, and the oceanic crust. Continental crust (granite) is less dense than oceanic crust (basalt), making it impossible for a continent (such as Atlantis) to sink. 

It may be possible, however, for a volcanic island to undergo subsidence caused by the load of volcanic materials deposited by active volcanoes [4,5]. Despite this, Nemo’s Atlantis still couldn’t have existed. Unlike the regions on the Ring of Fire around the Pacific Ocean, Atlantis was supposedly located on the Atlantic Ocean, where there is little volcano activity. It was also said to sink overnight, which can’t be true in the case of subsidence. It takes a very long time for subsidence to occur! 

Is it possible to find an underwater tunnel connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea?

Captain Nemo discovers an alternative route to the Suez Canal to go between the two seas: an underwater tunnel he calls the Arabian Tunnel. In reality, this is impossible because of the difference in sea level between the two bodies of water. It would cause the water within the tunnel to experience very high pressure, which couldn’t be overcome by the submarine. Even if such a tunnel existed, it would not survive for long, as the two seas border along a tectonic plate. The movement of the plates against or towards one another constantly changes the topography of the seas [3].

Can we reach the South Pole from underwater?

The Archimedes Principle implies that 90% of the volume of a floating iceberg lies below the water surface. Based on this theory and his measurement of the thickness of the icebergs above the water, Captain Nemo estimates them to be “no more than nine hundred [feet] beneath [6].”  Since the Nautilus is able to dive much deeper than that, Captain Nemo is confident that he will be able to reach the South Pole from underwater.

His conclusion, however, is wrong because he assumes that there is an open sea at the South Pole. Unlike the North Pole, the South Pole isn’t merely a huge chunk of ice floating on the water. It is situated on the continent of Antarctica, which has a deep crust beneath the water. According to the most recent study conducted by the Russian Academy of Sciences, the average thickness of Antarctic continental crust is 21 miles. The nearest open sea to the South Pole, too, is the Bay of Whales, located 800 miles away from it [7].

So far, South Pole has only been reached by travel on the surface. On the other hand, a number of submarines have successfully got to the North Pole from underwater. Fun fact: The first submarine to do so shares the same name with Verne’s imaginary submarine: the USS Nautilus, which reached the North Pole on August 3, 1958!

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Considering the fact that it was published more than 100 years ago, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea really is an amazing piece of science fiction. Through his revolutionary (though fictional) inventions, Verne pushed science to keep moving forward, and even inspired a number of later scientific advances. His Nautilus inspired the development of the electric submarine. Built in 1885, the Goubet I was the first submarine to be powered electrically [8]. It doesn’t really matter that this book contains a number of errors here and there; it’s called science fiction, after all.

1. Wier S. The Design of Jules Verne’s Submarine Nautilus [Internet]. Boulder: [Publisher Unknown]; [Date Unknown] [cited 2013 Oct 12]. Available from http://www.westernexplorers.us/Jules_Vernes_submarine_Nautilus.pdf 
   
2. The Mariana Trench [Internet]. [Place Unknown]: National Geographic; 2013 [cited 2013 Oct 21]. Available from http://deepseachallenge.com/the-expedition/mariana-trench/
   
3. Citra, Tiffany. Conversation with: Baylor Fox-Kemper, PhD. 2013 Oct 15
   
4. Tullis J. [Unpublished lecture notes on the properties of oceanic and continental crust]. Brown University; notes provided at lecture given 
   
5. Moore JG. Relationship between Subsidence and Volcanic Load, Hawaii. Bulletin of Volcanology. 1970 Jun 01; 34(2): 562-576
   
6. Verne J. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Mineola: Dover Publications, Inc; 2006. 
   
7. Gammon C. How Thick is the Crust Beneath Antarctica? [Internet]. [Place Unknown]: LiveScience; 2013 Jan 23 [cited 2013 Oct 14]. Available from http://www.livescience.com/26532-antarctica-crust-thickness.html 
   
8. Jones R. The first electric submarine [Internet]. [Place Unknown]: How It Works; 2013 Aug 20 [cited 2013 Oct 21]. Available from http://www.howitworksdaily.com/history/the-first-electric-submarine/