What benefits can the sea bring us? How else can we make use of marine resources?

The ocean is a cornucopia of mineral resources. After the "international 10 marine exploration stage" in the 1970s, people's understanding of the types, distribution and reserves of marine mineral resources was further deepened.

(1), oil and gas fields

With the modernization of human economy and life, the demand for oil is increasing day by day. At present, oil occupies the first place in energy. However, because some large oil fields on land are relatively easy to exploit, some have been exhausted and some are on the verge of exhaustion. Therefore, in recent 20 ~ 30 years, many countries in the world are vigorously developing offshore oil industry.

The exploration results show that the world's oil resources reserves are 65.438+billion tons, and the recoverable amount is about 300 billion tons, of which the seabed reserves are 65.438+300 million tons.

China has a shallow continental shelf of nearly 2 million square kilometers. Through the geological survey of submarine oil fields, seven great basin, including Bohai Sea, South Yellow Sea, East China Sea, Pearl River Estuary, Beibu Gulf, Yinggehai and Taiwan Province Province Shoal, have been discovered successively. Among them, the East China Sea is rich in seabed reserves, comparable to the North Sea oil field in Europe.

Pinghu oil and gas field in the East China Sea is the first medium-sized oil and gas field discovered in the East China Sea of China, located 420km southeast of Shanghai. It is a medium-sized oil and gas field dominated by natural gas, with a depth of 2000 ~ 3000 meters. According to experts' estimation, the natural gas reserves are 26 billion cubic meters, 4.74 million tons of condensate oil and 8.74 million tons of light crude oil.

(2) Rare manganese nodules

Manganese nodule is a kind of rare metal ore source on the seabed. It was first discovered in the Atlantic Ocean by a British marine survey ship in 1973. However, the formal and organized survey of manganese nodules in the world began with 1958. Investigation shows that manganese nodules are widely distributed at the bottom of the deep sea from 4000 to 5000 meters. They are the largest metal mineral resources in the future. Interestingly, manganese nodules are all kinds of primary minerals. It grows at a rate of about100000 tons every year, and it is an inexhaustible mineral.

The total reserves of marine manganese nodules in the world are about 3 trillion tons, including 400 billion tons of manganese, 8.8 billion tons of copper, 654.38+064 billion tons of nickel and 4.8 billion tons of cobalt, which are dozens or even thousands of times of the land reserves respectively. According to the current consumption level, these manganese can be used worldwide for 33,000 years, nickel for 253,000 years, cobalt for 2 1500 years and copper for 980 years.

At present, with the deepening of exploration and investigation of manganese nodules and the maturity of technology, it is predicted that by 2 1 century, it will enter the stage of commercial development and formally form a deep-sea mining industry.

(3) submarine hydrothermal deposits

In the mid-1960s, American marine survey vessels first discovered deep-sea hydrothermal deposits in the Red Sea. Then, some countries found more than 30 such mineral deposits in other oceans.

Hydrothermal deposits, also known as "heavy metal mud", are high-temperature lava ejected from cracks in sea ridges (seamounts), which are washed, precipitated and accumulated by seawater, and can grow rapidly at a rate of several centimeters per week like plants. It contains dozens of rare and precious metals such as gold, copper and zinc, and the grade of gold and zinc is very high, so it is also called "submarine gold and silver warehouse". Interestingly, heavy metals are colorful, including black, white, yellow, blue and red.

Under the current technical conditions, although submarine hydrothermal deposits can't be mined immediately, it is a potential treasure house of seabed resources. Once it can be exploited industrially, it will become one of the four major seabed minerals in 2 1 century together with submarine oil, deep-sea manganese nodules and submarine placer.

(4) Combustible ice

In 2 1 century, the amount of various energy sources is gradually decreasing. Scientists began to look for new energy sources. Combustible ice is a new energy source discovered by scientists in the ocean. It is located in the depths of the ocean, shaped like ice, can be burned, can be used as the energy source of various vehicles, and has great potential value. At present, China, the United States and other countries have made corresponding plans for the exploitation and utilization of combustible ice.

6. Ocean-the granary of the future

Keywords: marine science

Some readers may think, if the ocean can't grow food, how can it become a granary in the future?

Yes, rice and wheat can't grow in the ocean, but the fish and shellfish in the ocean can provide delicious and nutritious protein food for human beings.

As we all know, protein is the most important substance that constitutes an organism and the foundation of life. At present, only 5% ~ 10% of protein ingested by human beings is provided by the ocean. Worryingly, since 1970s, the marine catch has been stagnant and many species have been exhausted. According to a folk saying, human beings have eaten almost all the grandchildren of yellow croaker. To make the ocean a veritable granary, the output of fresh fish should be at least ten times higher than it is now. The experiment of a marine farm in the United States shows that it is entirely possible to greatly increase fish production.

In nature, there are countless food chains. In the ocean, if there are algae, there are shellfish, and if there are shellfish, there are small fish or even big fish ... The total area of the ocean is more than twice that of the land, and most of the few fishing grounds in the world are offshore. This is because algae growth needs sunlight and compounds such as silicon and phosphorus, and these conditions are only available near land. Marine survey shows that in the deep-sea water below 1000 meters, the contents of silicon and phosphorus are very rich, but they cannot float to the warm surface. Therefore, only a few small sea areas, due to the action of natural forces, the deep sea water automatically rises to the surface, thus making these sea areas full of algae and dense fish, becoming a rare fishing ground.

Inspired by these sea areas, oceanographers use the principle of updraft to artificially pump deep seawater to the surface in those sunny sea areas, then cultivate algae there, feed shellfish with algae, and feed lobsters with processed shellfish. Surprisingly, this series of experiments have been successful.

Experts optimistically pointed out that the ocean granary has great potential. At present, the annual output per hectare of land crops with the highest yield is only 0.7 1 ton in protein. However, scientific experiments show that the maximum output of mariculture in the same area can reach 27.8 tons, and the commercially competitive output is 16.7 tons.

Of course, there will be many difficulties from scientific experiments to actual production. Most importantly, pumping water from the deep sea below 1000 meters requires considerable electricity. Where does such a huge amount of electricity come from? Obviously, under today's conditions, these energy needs cannot be met.

However, scientists have found the trick: they intend to use the temperature difference between the tropical and subtropical ocean surface and the deep sea to generate electricity. This is the so-called seawater temperature difference power generation. In other words, the designed marine farm will be combined with the seawater temperature difference power station.

According to the calculation of relevant scientists, due to the strong light in tropical and subtropical waters, there are as many as 6,250 trillion cubic meters of warm water available for power generation in this sea area. If people use 1% warm water to generate electricity every time, and then pump the same amount of deep seawater to cool down, they can get 750 million tons of various seafood every year by using this electricity for aquaculture. It is equivalent to four times the total amount of fish and meat consumed by human beings in the mid-1970s.

Through these simple calculations, it is not difficult to see that it is completely feasible for the ocean to become the granary of mankind in the future.

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