Dave, Since water weighs the same at all depths depth makes no difference ! Yes everything has the same mass in or out of a gravitational field whether it is buoyed up by other forces or not. But this is actually a measure of inertia. If you were to accelerate while under water blood would tend to pool in a direction opposite to that of acceleration. A scooter ride might cause some pooling in the legs during acceleration but not as much as gravity on the surface does unless you were to accelerate at 32 ft/sec squared. <The water exerts pressure on a diver (much the same as your bag) in a <similar fashion to that of a G-Suit in a jet-pilot, and as with a G-Suit <the water pressure will ATTEMPT to force the blood to the highest <extremity, pooling will STILL exist, but, how much pooling will take place <will depend on the depth diver is at. Nope ! very different from a G suit. The G suit squeezes blood up and out of the legs like wringing a sponge - water simply reduces the weight of the blood and tissues. Keep in mind that water pressure is distributed throughout the body with no net effect and that if you were squeezed by it you would be squished to a pulp at the bottom of a swimming pool. Don't think in terms of pressure here; this is simply a matter of the force of buoyancy counteracting the force of gravity very close to equally. A body only weighs a few pounds in the water with no air in the lungs - mostly from bone. Blood can still pool to some extent around the heart and lungs because the situation in the chest cavity is not much different than on land - the enclosed organs are still supported by the body fluids, connective tissues, and bone that are not appreciably distorted by the effects of buoyancy. Chuck -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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