Ocean Science and Marine Engineering Technology

Author: Su Jilan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-12-01
Features: The ocean is home to over 200,000 species of fish, shrimp, mollusks, algae, and other marine organisms, providing humans with abundant protein essential for life. Just the continental shelf area alone holds 1.35×10^11 tons of oil and 1.40×10^12 tons of natural gas. The ocean also stores vast quantities of polymetallic nodules and polymetallic mud mineral resources. Renewable energy sources in the ocean (such as tidal energy, wave energy, and ocean thermal energy, etc.) are estimated to be around 7.0×10^9 kW. Additionally, recent discoveries suggest that the biodiversity of the seabed may far exceed that of land, and abundant methane hydrates have been found in the deep seabed, which could become a future energy source for humanity. Clearly, the ocean is an extremely rich treasure trove that remains far from being fully exploited.