Uzushio Science Museum was introduced in the Kobe Shimbun on Tuesday, January 15, 2019.
Minami Awaji Uzushio Science Museum
At the Uzushio Science Museum (Fukura Hei, Minami-Awaji City), a facility for displaying and learning about the Naruto Straits whirlpools, experiments are being conducted to investigate the relationship between the whirlpools and the topography of the straits using a giant hydraulic model of the museum. This is an attempt to verify the formation process of the undersea topography that produces the whirlpools and lead to the registration of the "Naruto Whirlpools" as a World Heritage Site.
Exploring the mechanism of whirlpools
The Naruto whirlpools are caused by a combination of various factors, including the fast currents generated by the ebb and flow of the tide and the complex topography of the surrounding area. The "Hyogo-Tokushima 'Naruto Whirlpools' World Heritage Promotion Council," formed by the prefectures of Hyogo and Tokushima, has been conducting various surveys, including measurements of the size of the whirlpools and the geology of the strait area, in order to prove the universal value of the whirlpools, which will be questioned in the World Heritage selection process.
This time, the council also conducted the experiment from November 11 to 18. Utilizing a giant hydraulic model that reproduces the topography of Naruto Straits at a scale of 1/159th of the plane direction, the location and speed of whirlpools and other forms of currents will be measured while changing the cross-section of the V-shaped strait section and water level, etc. Based on the data from the experiment, we will analyze how the tidal currents have changed the topography of Naruto Strait and its surrounding area, which is assumed to have originally been shallow, to create the current whirlpools that we see today.
Dr. Hideki Ueshima, a visiting professor at Hiroshima Institute of Technology and a member of the council's Academic Research Committee, expressed his enthusiasm when interviewed on March 14, saying, "I hope that this experiment will help us to unravel the history of the exceptional Naruto whirlpools and lead to their registration as a World Heritage site.
The results of this experiment and other data collected to date will be presented at an international symposium to be held in Minami Awaji in March.
Dear Editorial Staff
Thank you very much for introducing us in your wonderful newspaper!
