Jan 15, 2008

"Black Rock" Speculation

During Chapter three's Video clips Both the Captain & Talbot talk to Sam about searching for "Black Rock"



So Is Talbot looking for a ship wreck of "The Black Rock"
Or could he be looking for "Magnetite" ? (also known as "Black Rock")

Magnetite is the most magnetic of all the naturally occurring minerals on Earth.
Could Talbots 'Special Equipment' (that the captian had to install) be to search for large magnetic readings ?

If so, It could be Talbots cover story for the captain that hes searching for "Black Rock"

If there are large ammounts of Magnetite in the area maybe it could effect Compass barings ?

Thanks to MikeNY for this extra Information on magnetite
"Beginning in the 1950s, scientists, using magnetic instruments (magnetometers) adapted from airborne devices developed during World War II to detect submarines, began recognizing odd magnetic variations across the ocean floor. This finding, though unexpected, was not entirely surprising because it was known that basalt -- the iron-rich, volcanic rock making up the ocean floor-- contains a strongly magnetic mineral (magnetite) and can locally distort compass readings. This distortion was recognized by Icelandic mariners as early as the late 18th century. More important, because the presence of magnetite gives the basalt measurable magnetic properties, these newly discovered magnetic variations provided another means to study the deep ocean floor."
: Source


So what is Talbot really looking for ?
A ship wreck, Magnetite, or could he be looking for the Island ?
And if Talbot is looking for the Island, is he working for Penny Widmore ?

8 comments:

MikeNY said...

"Beginning in the 1950s, scientists, using magnetic instruments (magnetometers) adapted from airborne devices developed during World War II to detect submarines, began recognizing odd magnetic variations across the ocean floor. This finding, though unexpected, was not entirely surprising because it was known that basalt -- the iron-rich, volcanic rock making up the ocean floor-- contains a strongly magnetic mineral (magnetite) and can locally distort compass readings. This distortion was recognized by Icelandic mariners as early as the late 18th century. More important, because the presence of magnetite gives the basalt measurable magnetic properties, these newly discovered magnetic variations provided another means to study the deep ocean floor."

from
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/developing.html

No doubt the volcanic rock of the island is loaded with it...

Миљан Давид Танић said...

Interesting... it struck me too that Talbot didn't say "THE Black Rock", but just "Black Rock"...

Cody said...

every time they mention "Black Rock" in dialog it is just that Black Rock, not "The Black Rock". The exception is in the notebook finds in Talbots briefcase, it clearly states Proposed Salvage of "The Black Rock" Shipwreck.

Simon Bourne said...

Why do you think Talbot is not looking for the Black Rock? All he did is suggested that Sam is not looking for it (because he was looking for something in Talbot's room).

daveyp said...

That's an interesting theory, it could be that he is looking for a location they have found out has a large amount of 'black rock' ie the island.

Maybe that was even what the black rock ship was after and that's why it went the wrong way from Papua New Guinea and that's why it was named the black rock. After all, the ship did have mining gear on it from mini gold in PNG, maybe it was then going to mine 'black rock' at the island.

The only thing that makes me think that it probably is the ship they are looking for rather than Magnetite is the documents in the brief case, which say quite blatantly that they are looking for the ship.

http://bp0.blogger.com/_n3eH1jI8AZ8/R4wwsmbY5pI/AAAAAAAABo4/GYwRtHQf4WY/s1600-h/black-rock.gif

SpOOky (Mark) said...

Just a suggestion:
If (big IF) Talbot is searching for the Island, his case could have documents about ships/planes that have gone missing and are thought to be on the Island.

It may be that Sams research on "The Black Rock" and the Documents he found are trying to misslead us to think Talbot is looking for a ship wreck.
But he is infact searching for the Island, by tryong to locate the source of a large megnetic reading.

It could be they are searching for a ship wreck, But It leaped out at me that they were talking about "Black Rock" Instead of "The Black Rock"
And It just so happens that "Black Rock" is the most magnetic of all the naturally occurring minerals on Earth.
And Magnetics would seem to be very relavant to Lost.

Adam Morgan said...

Well, Talbot has Mullins' briefcase, right? And within that briefcase, there are Maxwell/Widmore documents regarding a search for THE Black Rock.

The question is:

Has Talbot been able to open the briefcase?

He appears to have stolen it. Which leads me to believe he is NOT affiliated with Maxwell or Widmore. He may have no idea that THE Black Rock that Mullins/Maxwell/Widmore was looking for is a ship. He may have only seen or heard the words "Black Rock" and misinterpreted them (like WE did in Season 1).

SimingPup said...

remember: sayid's compass was off on the island as well.