Chris Thompson - AC2CZ - Amateur Radio Station

Greenwood Explorer Underwater ROV

March 13, 2015 - Background

Just north of New York City, in the hills of Harriman State Park, are a collection of mine workings from the 18th and 19th centuries. Some were worked into the 20th century, but most were abandonded much earlier. These miners dug iron ore from hematite and magnetite using a combination of hand tools and black powder. (Dynamite was not invented until 1867.) Some of the workings are open trenches, some are vertical shafts and some slope into the hillside. All are flooded with water.

There are several guides and books that describe the mines and their history, but I have seen and read nothing about the interior of the flooded mines. This project aims to address that by sending an underwater ROV into the flooded mine shafts to explore and document the excavations.

Dives with the Greenwood Explorer

Test dive in the East River, Brooklyn

First Dive in a mine: Dater Mine in Harriman State Park

Dive in a Fjiord, Norris Cove, Newfoundland

Return to the Dater Mine. Dive 2:

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