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NOTE: I have edited this in the hope that it will be deemed on-topic, as the previous version was too story-based. I have checked the guidelines for fixing story-based questions and believe it complies with them.

In this second manifestation of my question , I am once again asking what it would take for a team of scientists, with state-of-the-art modern-day technology, to explore a previously undiscovered* island roughly 55,000km2 in size, that is hidden from government satellites and has never been set foot on before (by a human).

Conditions on the island to consider:

  1. The island is inhabited by ample fauna and flora.
  2. Most of the island is covered in jungle and tropical savanna.
  3. It is situated towards the northern end of the Ninety East Ridge, Indian Ocean.
  4. As said, it has a rough area of about 55,000km2.

Note: I have tried to make this as non-story based as possible. Here is an extract from the "Why is my question too story-based?" page:

Off topic: Would Joe Marine 17 climb this hill wearing his backpack

On topic: Could a well-trained marine wearing a 30kg weight backpack complete a 1-mile route with 500' of ascent in 10 minutes

Off topic: Would government X pass law Y

On topic: What could cause a government to pass such-and-such law given these societal conditions

I have adjusted the old question to fit these guidelines,and I assure you that this is the best I can do. Some of the most popular questions on the site at the moment have a similar style to the edited version of this, so I hope it will get opened again.

Frostfyre
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SealBoi
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  • How far from the nearest city are we talking? Smack in the center of the ocean, or mere miles from shore? – bendl Apr 05 '18 at 16:47
  • @bendl - Not toooo far from civilization - on the northern end of the Ninety East Ridge. – SealBoi Apr 05 '18 at 17:00
  • Do I understand correctly your scenario? In a real world 2019 a new island pops up, and it already has all the plants and animals? – Alexander Apr 05 '18 at 17:05
  • @Alexander Not exactly. The island broke off from Africa with some prehistoric African fauna, then was colonized by rafting South Asian animals. I still haven't figured out a way to explain the fact that the island hadn't been discovered until now (That will be my next question.) – SealBoi Apr 05 '18 at 17:11
  • The explanation would be important to the story. It could be "Oh, how silly of us to miss an island like that", or "There's no way we could have missed that! It's an alien invasion! Arm the nukes!" – Alexander Apr 05 '18 at 17:17
  • Yes there will definitely be an explanation, I'll ask that in my next question. – SealBoi Apr 05 '18 at 17:23
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    @SealBoi that explanation is important to answer this question. In former scenario, the island will be explored in "Discovery channel" style. In latter scenario, it will be a carrier group with lots of drones. – Alexander Apr 05 '18 at 17:30
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    I disagree with @Alexander. Let's assume a 3rd party has been paying Google, etc., to keep the island hidden. It was discovered by fishermen that the island was missing on Google maps and that was picked up by some idiotic "10 Areas Hidden On Google Maps" list. If you think about it, what the 3rd party is doing on the island has no impact on the investigating team. They don't know about it. Maybe they bring a few guns 'cause it's hidden for some reason, but they are ignorant. Ergo, it wouldn't substantially change their inventory decisions. – JBH Apr 05 '18 at 18:06
  • @JBH - was the island known to US Government (which was mapping the Earth long before Google)? Also, I have put together a more detailed answer below. – Alexander Apr 05 '18 at 18:11
  • @JBH there were satellites mapping the whole Earth a long time before Google existed. This scenario was vaguely reasonable when Gilligan's Island was first broadcast, but not in the past 50 years. – RonJohn Apr 05 '18 at 18:12
  • @Alexander more than just the US were launching satellites and mapping the world in the 1970s and 1980s. – RonJohn Apr 05 '18 at 18:13
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    "That will be my next question." It should have been your first question. – RonJohn Apr 05 '18 at 18:14
  • A possible answer to the other question can be a government conspiracy. The island was really discovered in the early 1960s by both US and Russia, and this discovery was the real reason for "Cuban Missile Crisis". At the end of the crisis, both world powers decided not to colonize the island and keep its presence a secret. But finally, in 2019, this secret is out. – Alexander Apr 05 '18 at 18:20
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    @Alexander, it doesn't take anywhere near that much to allow someone to suspend their disbelief. Nowhere near all of the islands were discovered before satelites and part of the story can be why the satelite data has been hidden. My point is, why the island is undiscovered would not be a deciding factor for the investigator's inventory other than personal weapons (at most). In other words, the OP asking this question now is fine. – JBH Apr 05 '18 at 18:25
  • @RonJohn, This site is as much about fiction as it is about science. You can find websites showing you "mysterious locations" on Google maps where things have been erased (sometimes badly) from Google. My point is, it's perfectly plausibe that an island is hidden from the world's general notice. All it requires is an explanation, which would be a cool part of the OP's story. (Do you actually believe you can go to any publically available source and see every square inch of the earth in truth? That's very trusting... and a bit naïve.) – JBH Apr 05 '18 at 18:33
  • @JBH there have been a lot of Earth-surveillance satellites since the 1970s, and just because places are smudged out in Google Earth doesn't mean that University researchers and places like Woods Hole wouldn't leak stuff like that to Greenpeace or the NRDF, etc who would love to leak it to a journalist looking for the next conspiracygate. – RonJohn Apr 05 '18 at 19:12
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    @RonJohn, that's an excellent idea to help the OP build his story. It has nothing at all to do with answering the OP's question. As I just explained to Alexander, a basic courtesy of this site is to take the OP at their word to answer the question. I can think of a number of "suspension of disbelief" reasons that would justify the OP's conditions. Please remember, this site is about science FICTION, not science FACT. One of our goals is to help the OP bend the facts to help them make cool fiction. – JBH Apr 05 '18 at 19:22
  • @JBH the discussion/debate about how it could plausibly have been kept secret for 50 years why OP should have asked that first. And I'm going to keep on pounding the skeptical drum, because if not, all he(?) is going to hear are what I consider pretty weak "ideas". – RonJohn Apr 05 '18 at 20:06
  • Yes, I admit that not asking that question first was a pretty lousy decision, I'll edit this question tomorrow after I get a few answers about the island being hidden. – SealBoi Apr 05 '18 at 20:18
  • I'd try to avoid meta-talk about the question in the question body, it really does hamper the flow of the question itself – Pingcode Apr 06 '18 at 12:37

2 Answers2

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  • Mapping overflights with either fixed-wing planes, helicopters, or (fixed or rotaty wing) drones. The island is something like 250 miles in diameter, so it might take a fairly large two-engine model to get the mapping done quickly. Something the size of the Britten-Norman Defender, with a scientific instrument load.
  • Ground surveys in many places. Say you divide the island into 10 km grids and visit every intersection, and it would be roughly 550 sites. If one team can do one site a day, then half a dozen teams would need more than a year, counting downtime. Delivery with a combination of boats, helicopters, and jeeps. We're talking about dozens of scientists, with dozens of support staff, so it makes sense to do many things at once -- boats traveling up the rivers, helicopter teams inserted in interesting spots, 4x4s in the savannah.

(Clarification, I don't suggest surveys on that grid. This is just to estimate the magnitude of the task.)

  • Will somebody be looking into oil, gas, or ore? Specialized vehicles for seismic testing.

That's assuming that the funding is available. If the island is suddenly detected, there will be many sides interested in how could that happen, and bring more effort than we're seeing in the Antarctic today.

o.m.
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  • Thanks for the comprehensive answer! So, I imagine that the protagonists in the book will be entirely made up of scientists, particularly biologists, with maybe a few geographers, geologists etc. As for the "suddenly detected" scenario, I think that will be more how it will play out, as the antagonists will probably be a separate faction interested solely in extracting resources that arrive later. – SealBoi Apr 05 '18 at 17:41
  • With your airplanes: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42916261 – bendl Apr 05 '18 at 18:42
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Disclaimer: this answer assumes that the government (US or any major country) just discovered the island and has no reason to hold back their involvement.

The US military will conduct the exploration.

In virtually every scenario, sudden discovery of a large island would present a challenge to world order and political balance. If it is unknown who lives on this island and whether they present a threat, military would be immediately sent to investigate.

First, satellites will provide extensive mapping. Second, long-range surveillance planes will reach the island and start providing more detailed information. This will happen on the first day of discovery. US has by far the most resources to start exploration.

Third, Navy ships will reach the island, and eventually the group will grow large to provide a full quarantine. This is again, will be US/NATO ships. Russia, China will strongly object, but they don't have the forces that could reach the island in time, much less to stop what US will be doing there.

Fourth, Navy would make up a plan for the island exploration. Civilians may be invited, but in general, the island would be off limits to anybody who does not receive military clearance. By this time, island will be satisfactory mapped. For the list of supplies, this link will provide some information: Marine expeditionary unit

Fifth, helicopters will take out teams of marines and Navy SEALs into the island, where they would make a thorough search for any human or technological presence. Drones will provide air cover and additional exploratory information. General public will be given some information, but only what is deemed appropriate by the military command. Supply bases will be established on the coast. Given the size of the island, it may take a long time.

Sixth, at the same time, UN will be struggling with the status of the island and the fact that NATO does not allow anyone else there. Eventually, some sort of agreement will be made, but it is reasonable to assume that no country would be able to claim this island, and, at least initially, there would be no permanent settlements and no mining there.

Seventh, military would finally clear the island for civilian presence. At this time, universities and private funds from all around the world would prepare expeditions that will descend on the island. Those expeditions would have all kinds of supplies, and they would be able to benefit from the exploration already done by the military.

Alexander
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  • Ah, so really in a realistic scenario, the discovery of a habitable island wouldn't play out like Jurassic Park II, with a small team of researchers going there before anyone else and getting killed? – SealBoi Apr 05 '18 at 18:00
  • In the fourth stage of the scenario, would the military employ any top-class civilian scientists/explorers, perhaps accompanied by a team of soldiers, to inspect the fauna and flora of the island - from a scientific point of view - or would research not be something they'd be interested in? – SealBoi Apr 05 '18 at 18:10
  • @SealBoi - yes, but mostly from a security standpoint, like - should our marines keep away from this spider? But later, as it becomes clear that there's no military threat, researches may join military teams in big numbers (I mean before step 7). – Alexander Apr 05 '18 at 18:15
  • @SealBoi, Alexander is overstating things. Just because there was/could have been a coverup does not change this question at all and your Jurasic Park style of story will work just fine. You just need to incorporate the reason for satelite data being hidden as part of your story (having more than one mystery is a good thing, consider "Lost.") – JBH Apr 05 '18 at 18:29
  • And, Alexander, I downvoted this because it does not answer the OP's question. – JBH Apr 05 '18 at 18:41
  • @JBH Just think about it. Who (and when) did the coverup determines who and when explores the island. If the island discovered by the government during Cold War, military would go through it, in secret, long before 2019. If it was some secret society that kept even the government in the dark, my scenario is the only plausible answer. – Alexander Apr 05 '18 at 18:53
  • @Alexander, no it doesn't. What if the cover up's been going on since the 50's? What would motivate the conspirators to investigate it today? Why would they bother? They obviously know about the island and don't think anyone else does. It's only a mystery to people who aren't a part of the cover up. Worse, this would need to be a lovely international coverup to affect all source-reporting agencies world-wide. That's an interesting plot development by itself. Not only is your scenario NOT the only plausible answer, I consider it very poorly thought out. – JBH Apr 05 '18 at 19:01
  • Remember that the OP's premise is that the island wasn't discovered intil 2019 and it was discovered by people not involved with the reason for it's being hidden. You're making a TON of assumptions past that point. Please stop putting words in the OP's mouth. – JBH Apr 05 '18 at 19:02
  • @JBH At the moment, having not heard both opinions yet, I do see where Alexander's going with the whole military thing, but I'm interested to hear why you think that I could still have a Jurassic Park 2-style plot, as it was what I was going for. – SealBoi Apr 05 '18 at 19:03
  • @JBH just saw your comment now - good point. – SealBoi Apr 05 '18 at 19:04
  • @SealBoi, that's another question (a question this is actually an answer for). We need to stick to the Stack Exchange rules. Ask your next question to get that insight. Please remember, SE sites are not discussion forums (and this argument has gone on too long already). – JBH Apr 05 '18 at 19:09
  • @JBH - Ok, let's review it again. The conspiracy was going on for some time, and in 2019 the secret is out. There are only two options. If government was part of this conspiracy, it is very implausible that they didn't explore the island by now. If government was the victim of conspiracy, it is even less plausible that it wouldn't go all-out in force. – Alexander Apr 05 '18 at 19:10
  • Who cares if the government has explored it already or not? Who cares if anyone at all has previously explored the island or not? What has that to do with the investigating team in the OP's question? Let me be frank. This answer, not being an answer to this question, should be deleted. When/if the OP asks the "What could have kept my investigators in the dark about this island until 2019?" question, then this answer can reappear (and watch how many alternatives appear right along side it). – JBH Apr 05 '18 at 19:15
  • You seem to be unaware that one of the basic courtesies of this site is to let the OP set the rules for the question as much as possible. The fact that you don't believe it's plausible does NOT invalidate the question. An answer should take the OP's conditions at their word. If you think the conditions should be changed, that's for general comments to the question, not comments in an answer block. – JBH Apr 05 '18 at 19:17
  • Yes, I do intend to ask that question tomorrow. I have no disrespect to Alexander, as he did provide a comprehensive and detailed answer, but perhaps misinterpreted my question. We can discuss this in my next question, as this debate has gone on rather too long in my opinion. – SealBoi Apr 05 '18 at 19:20
  • @JBH - "Who cares if the government..." - Would anybody send an investigating team today to Hawaii, for example? Why not? – Alexander Apr 05 '18 at 19:49
  • @JBH I am sorry if I misinterpreted the conditions. If SeaBoi stipulated that military should hold back, while not trying to stop any investigating teams, my answer would have been completely different. – Alexander Apr 05 '18 at 19:51
  • That deserves a clarification from @SealBoi. He didn't mention either way, and without first indicating who discovered the island (not who's hiding it), we couldn't know. Bear in mind, even if the miliarty are involved, this still doesn't answer the question as it's providing a timeline based on facts not in evidence, not an inventory of equipment. Other than the standard gear carried by a soldier, do you believe a military expedition visiting an island they didn't previously know about would carry different investigative gear? – JBH Apr 05 '18 at 19:59
  • @Alexander Sorry, I see now that I did leave that part out. Basically, the research team of scientists are the first people to set foot on the island (I'm not sure how the whole cover-up thing will work so let's just say first in recent years.) I will work on any implausibilities about this in tomorrow's question(s). – SealBoi Apr 05 '18 at 20:09