Re: Does the boiling point of H2O increase over 100 C below sea level?

Yes, the boiling point of water increases with pressure. However, remember that you found that the boiling point only dropped 2-3^o at 8000 feet above sea level, and Death Valley isn't anything like 8000 feet below sea level (more like 800!).

So I wouldn't expect the boiling point of water in Death Valley to be much over 100^o C.

But if you go to the bottom of the sea, to, say, the mid-Atlantic ridge, you find water which is volcanically heated to well over 100^o. It remains a liquid because of the tremendous pressure! These mid-ocean hydrothermal vents, and the amazing variety of life they support, have been very much in the news of science for the last year or two. Go to your library and leaf through the back issues of Scientific American for more information.

Dan Berger
Bluffton College