# What would happen if we broke the land link between the Americas?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-we-broke-the-land-link-between-the-americas/590468
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 27, 2011, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-we-broke-the-land-link-between-the-americas/590468 "2011-07-27T06:22:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-we-broke-the-land-link-between-the-americas/590468/41 "2011-07-29T22:17:26Z")
> [@Scuba\_Ben](#):
>
> I came into this thread to mention / attempt to recall the same story. I’m all but certain that it was either in _Asimov’s_ or _Analog_. I seem to recall that the big-ass dam was called the “Welling Wall.” Off to see if Google can figure out what I’m thinking of…
>
> Nope, nothing.
There’s a different-but-similar story (my recollection of the story is quite clear, but not author or title) where Panama is destroyed by nukes (world war, everyone targets Panama for tactical reasons) and the resulting EMP causes mutations in children being born at that moment (preposterous, but there you go)–they all have odd-colored eyes and high IQs. Panama is eventually rebuilt by using nukes to throw up debris to block the blown-out spot.
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-we-broke-the-land-link-between-the-americas/590468/42 "2011-07-29T22:47:33Z")
> [@Scuba\_Ben](#):
>
> I came into this thread to mention / attempt to recall the same story. I’m all but certain that it was either in _Asimov’s_ or _Analog_. I seem to recall that the big-ass dam was called the “Welling Wall.” Off to see if Google can figure out what I’m thinking of…
>
> Nope, nothing.
“Shifting Seas” by Stanley Weinbaum, available at Project Gutenberg ([Shifting Seas](http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0607511h.html)) - first published in Amazing stories, 1937.
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-we-broke-the-land-link-between-the-americas/590468/43 "2011-07-29T22:48:42Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#):
>
> I seem to remember a short sf story of a civilization in the Mediterranean basin destroyed during the zanclean flood with refugees escaping by boat.
>
> The story strongly hints at being the basis for the ancient myths of Atlantis and Noah’s Ark.
Probably a bunch of stories with that idea - any other details?
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-we-broke-the-land-link-between-the-americas/590468/44 "2011-07-29T22:52:49Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> _Much_ earlier. IIRC, it was from the 1940s (It mentioned the “Ring of Fire”, but was unaware of Continental Drift). Can’t recall who wrote it, though.
Oh yes, it was old stuff when I read it - IIRC the collection also had shorts-wearing astronauts exploring habitable Jovian satellites and so on. That would make it Stanley G. Weinbaum, but I can’t find the story on his list of shorts, so maybe I don’t remember correctly.
ETA - ninjaed! :eek:
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-we-broke-the-land-link-between-the-americas/590468/45 "2011-07-29T23:04:29Z")
> [@Malacandra](#):
>
> Oh yes, it was old stuff when I read it - IIRC the collection also had shorts-wearing astronauts exploring habitable Jovian satellites and so on. That would make it Stanley G. Weinbaum, but I can’t find the story on his list of shorts, so maybe I don’t remember correctly.
>
> ETA - ninjaed! :eek:
By the way, I used Google Books to find “Welling Wall” and then (because it told me the story was in a Weinbaum collection, but not which story it was) I used regular Google to search with the word “Weinbaum” added, until I found what I wanted.
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-we-broke-the-land-link-between-the-americas/590468/46 "2011-07-30T03:46:34Z")
> [@Colophon](#):
>
> A man, a plan, a con. TNT! No canal! Panama ☹
Very nice indeed. Original?
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### Author:  [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-we-broke-the-land-link-between-the-americas/590468/47 "2011-07-30T14:00:55Z")
> [@Colophon](#):
>
> A man, a plan, a con. TNT!
The answer is Ted Turner.
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### Author:  [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-we-broke-the-land-link-between-the-americas/590468/48 "2011-07-30T14:08:42Z")
> [@Snickers](#):
>
> Didn’t “golf clap” start in TV, though? I seem to remember it figuring in a SNL sketch or something. It’s referring to the restrained, polite applause you usually see employed after a particularly nice drive or put while watching a live golf game. Polite and restrained, you see, to avoid distracting the golfers on other holes. It’s evolved into a meme as a way of giving rather snooty props to someone for something clever.
Is there a name for the clap you see in movies but never in real life, where one guy starts with real loud, slow claps, and then it spreads around the room and turns into normal applause?
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### Author:  [@Dano83860](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dano83860)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-we-broke-the-land-link-between-the-americas/590468/49 "2011-07-30T14:46:15Z")
> [@Darth\_Ayebaw](#):
>
> Thanks. Would the Pacific flow into the Atlantic indefinitely, or would there be some balance in the future? Also, in terms of the species mingling, are there any good specific hypothetical examples?
The flows from the Pacific to the Caribbean would reach equilibrium. If not we could line up generators on the bank and have a source of perpetual energy.
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### Author:  [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-we-broke-the-land-link-between-the-americas/590468/50 "2011-07-30T15:14:17Z")
> [@Dano83860](#):
>
> The flows from the Pacific to the Caribbean would reach equilibrium. If not we could line up generators on the bank and have a source of perpetual energy.
That’s not an argument for equilibrium. You can put a dam and generator on any of thousands of rivers and get a source of perpetual energy.
I have no knowledge of oceanography, but I would guess that under some circumstances there could indeed be a current flowing for as long as the land masses and climate remained stable.
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2011, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-we-broke-the-land-link-between-the-americas/590468/51 "2011-07-31T06:08:14Z")
Thanks re golf clap…
Leo
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