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I’ve attached an image here, to further illustrate the scenario. Imagine that the wreck is at the bottom of the Marianas trench, 10km underwater.
Would jumping into the water kill you from the pressure? Or would it only kill you if you swam to where there is no cover on the right side of the wreckage?
In: Physics
As others have noted, in this situation the air pressure matches the water presure. Research suggests that the maximum survivable air pressure for humans is 100 atmospheres, at about a depth of 1000 meters. However, there are additional issues with breathing air at those pressures – oxygen toxicity and nitrogen narcosis. Unless you are in an air-bubble of heliox (helium oxygen blend for deep sea diving), those things will probably kill you first.
The good news is that your lungs will contain 100 lungs worth of air as you start your ascent. The bad news is that you have to let it out as you float up, otherwise your lungs will explode. Any other air-filled spaces in your body that were not crushed as the pressure increased will now try to expand as you ascend – this may pop your eardrums, and will make you burp and fart as you ascend.
If you were not in heliox, then massive amounts of nitrogen forced into your bloodstream and tissues will start to foam out like Guinness. This is decompression sickness, or the bends. Incredibly painful before it kills you by blocking and tearing blood vessels in your brain.
And, of course, even at 1km below the surface, you cannot reach the surface before you die from asphyxiation. Even if you have an air-tank, you can’t breathe in because of the pressure of the air coming out of your lungs.
And one other problem – below about 20m, humans have negative buoyancy. You won’t float up, you will sink down. Unlucky.
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