Crossword clues for afterdamp
Wiktionary
n. (context mining English) Suffocating gases present in a coal mine after an explosion caused by firedamp, consisting of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and sometimes hydrogen sulfide.
WordNet
n. a toxic mixture of gases (including carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide and nitrogen) after an explosion of firedamp in a mine
Wikipedia
Afterdamp is the toxic mixture of gases left in a mine following an explosion caused by firedamp, which itself can initiate a much larger explosion of coal dust. It consists of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen. Hydrogen sulfide, another highly toxic gas, may also be present. However, it is the high content of carbon monoxide which kills by depriving victims of oxygen by combining preferentially with haemoglobin in the blood.
Afterdamp was the deadly gas which caused the majority of casualties in the many pit disasters of the British coalfields, and elsewhere in the world. Such disasters continue to afflict working mines, especially in mainland China.
Usage examples of "afterdamp".
You know, it is a product of combustion, and is very deadly --it is the much-dreaded white damp or afterdamp of a mine explosion.
They’d survived the major explosion, but the afterdamp, the gases, had killed them.