SOLITON: A solitary wave, related to a tsunami, produced by a sudden influx of energy or displacement of the sea surface. Solitons may cross several miles no more than a few inches high, but amplify rapidly and violently when reaching shallower water.
SVERDRUP: Unit of fluid flow equal to one million cubic meters per second. Named for the Norwegian mariner and explorer Otto Sverdrup.
THIOBACILLUS FERROOXIDANS: Species of bacterium used to mine low-grade deposits of uranium. (Thiobacillus univerra ferrooxidans, or “Thiouni,” is a fictional construct.)
ULVA MORINA: Fictitious species of fast-growing, chlorophytic ice algae with an affinity for geothermally heated water.
WATER COLUMN: General term for the vertical depth of water between the surface and the bottom.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
At some point, every manuscript is like a slick of radioactive debris-an amorphous mixture of suspect and potentially deadly material in need of industrial waste management. Meltdown could not have been realized without the thoughtful and patient consideration of a number of friends and colleagues, each expert in their respective fields. The author wishes to thank for their advisement: the U.S. Navy UDT-SEAL Association, L Col. Keith Gathercole of the Canadian National Search and Rescue Secretariat (Ottawa, Ontario), Drs. Alan Lewis and Steve Calvert of the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, British Columbia), Dr. Frank Settle of Washington & Lee University (Lexington, Virginia), Dr. David Morrison of the Canadian Museum of Civilization (Hull, Quebec), Mr. Mark Madryga of the Environment Canada Pacific Weather Office (Vancouver, British Columbia), and certain anonymous acquaintances at the Old Ebbitt Grill (Washington, D.C.). Any errors made or liberties taken with the advice and thoughtful suggestions of these individuals are solely the fault of the author.
Special thanks are also due to my editor extraordinaire, Abby Zidle, for keeping me honest, and to super agent Jimmy Vines for keeping me employed. Fram!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As a researcher with a Ph. D. in biological oceanography and an advisor to several environmental agencies, James Powlik has walked many of the same footpaths as Brock Garner in the Arctic Circle, Iceland, and elsewhere. Dr. Powlik has been a consultant on science and education projects for government agencies including the EPA, NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. In addition to numerous articles and research texts, he is the author of the novel Sea Change, published by Delacorte Press. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.