Beyond the Book: Background information when reading Shadow Divers

Beyond the Book

This article relates to Shadow Divers

The partial pressure of nitrogen in  compressed air below a certain depth causes a mental state similar to being drunk, known as nitrogen narcosis. 

Decompression syndrome or nitrogen embolism, also known as 'the bends', is caused because nitrogen bubbles form in the bloodstream and tissues of the body at depth. If a diver surfaces too quickly the bubbles don't have time to dissolve which can cause extreme pain, paralysis and death.  To avoid this divers must surface slowly.

Because of issues such as these, deep diving requires mixing oxygen with other gases such as helium.  Although these mixes are not without their own issues.

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This article relates to Shadow Divers. It first ran in the June 1, 2005 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.