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The oceans are a source of resources. Resources of the World Ocean: their types and significance. Osmosis and its energy

CSR in the subject "Economic and social geography of Western countries"

Topic: "Mineral resources of the world and their use for economic development. Resources of the World Ocean and prospects for their use»

Prepared by a 1st year student

2nd group MO FMO

Nikolaev Vasily

Minsk, 2006

World Ocean is the future of mankind. Numerous organisms live in its waters, many of which are a valuable bioresource of the planet, and in the thickness earth's crust, covered by the Ocean - most of all the mineral resources of the Earth.

In the conditions of the shortage of fossil raw materials and the ongoing accelerated scientific and technological progress for half a century, when it is less and less economically profitable to develop the explored deposits of natural resources on land, a person with hope turns his eyes to the vast territories of the Ocean.

The entire world ocean is 361 million sq. km (about 71% the entire surface of the Earth), and fresh water accounts for only 20 million square meters. km, and the total volume of the entire hydrosphere is 1390 million cubic meters km, of which the actual waters of the Ocean - 96,4% .

The resources of the oceans are divided into four groups:

1. Aquatic(with the advent of the industrial possibility of desalination of sea water [ distillation] many of the world's water-poor countries have to use this expensive method to cover their needs);

2. Energy(resources of ebbs and flows, sea currents, wave energy and temperature gradient), they are still technically difficult to master, therefore, they can only be counted "on account of future discoveries." Only one tidal energy is estimated in 8 trillion kWh (almost 100% coverage the world's electricity needs), taking into account the total power in 2,5 – 4 billion kWh. The big “plus” of TPP (tidal power plants), in contrast to hydroelectric power plants, is a sustainable energy output. But for now, these are rather resources of the future. They are inexhaustible.

3. Biological(divided into 2 groups: all marine life and those that are of direct commercial importance now or will be in the foreseeable future; estimates of the entire biomass of the Ocean fluctuate from 35 to 40 billion tons, which is certainly much lower than the biomass of land). Based on the way of life and habitat, all marine organisms are usually divided into 3 classes: plankton[possesses the highest biomass (62.5%) and diversity of species, emits zoo- and phytoplankton, populates water up to 150 m deep], nekton[all animals that can move freely in the water column - 2.5% of the biomass of the Ocean, half are fish] and benthos[bottom and simply deep inhabitants of the World Ocean, distinguish between zoo- (25%) and phytobenthos].

4. mineral, which we will discuss separately.

Mineral resources of the oceans

The total oil and gas area within the shelf is estimated at 13 million square kilometers (about ½ of its area).

The largest areas of oil and gas production from the seabed are the Persian and Mexican Gulfs. Commercial production of gas and oil from the bottom of the North Sea has begun.

The shelf is also rich in surface deposits, represented by numerous placers on the bottom containing metal ores, as well as non-metallic minerals.

On vast areas of the ocean, rich deposits of ferromanganese nodules have been discovered - a kind of multicomponent ores containing nickel, cobalt, copper, etc. At the same time, research allows us to count on the discovery of large deposits of various metals in specific rocks occurring under the ocean floor.

Osmosis and its energy

Salt water of oceans and seas harbors huge untapped reserves of energy that can be efficiently converted into other forms of energy in areas with large salinity gradients, such as the mouths of the world's largest rivers, such as the Amazon, Parana, Congo, etc.

The osmotic pressure arising from the mixing of fresh river water with salt water is proportional to the difference in salt concentrations in these waters. On average, this pressure is 24 atm., and at the confluence of the Jordan River into the Dead Sea, 500 atm.

As a source of osmotic energy, it is also planned to use salt domes enclosed in the thickness of the ocean floor.

Calculations have shown that when using the energy obtained by dissolving the salt of a salt dome with average oil reserves, it is possible to obtain no less energy than when using the oil contained in it. Work on converting "salt" energy into electrical energy is at the stage of projects and pilot plants.

Among the proposed options are of interest hydroosmosis devices with semi-permeable membranes. In them, the solvent is absorbed through the membrane into the solution.

As solvents and solutions, fresh water is used - sea water or sea water - brine, which is obtained by dissolving salt dome deposits.

conclusions

Despite the huge prospects for using the depths of the world ocean, as well as its energy from tides, waves, etc., humanity at this stage of its technical development has focused mainly on oil and gas production in easily accessible near-continental areas and active (up to the threat of extermination) catching the biomass of the seas. and oceans of the earth.

Bibliography

Maksakovskiy, V. P. Geographical picture of the world: in 2 books. / V. P. Maksakovskiy. M., 2003. Book 1: General characteristics of the world.

Alisov, N. V. Economic and social geography of the world (general review): textbook. for universities / N. V. Alisov, B. S. Khorev. M., 2001.

Lyubimov I. M. General political, economic and social geography: Textbook. – M.: Helios, 2001.

Big encyclopedic dictionary of the schoolboy. Compiled by - Gorkin A.P. M., 1999.

Net Internet.

Human society cannot exist without resources, which are understood as any sources and prerequisites for obtaining the material and spiritual benefits that people need, which can be realized with existing technologies and socio-economic relations.

Along with the concept of “natural resources”, the concept of “natural conditions” is often used. In a broad sense, natural conditions should include the totality of elements of nature, including resources. In a narrow sense, natural conditions are the bodies and forces of nature, which at this stage in the development of productive forces are essential for the life and activity of human society, but do not directly participate in material and non-material production.

The concept of “natural resources of the World Ocean” includes all elements of the oceanosphere that are used or can be used in industrial and non-industrial sectors. The natural conditions of the World Ocean are elements of the oceanosphere that only affect human life. The differences between natural conditions and resources are relative. Natural conditions can turn into resources. Man turns the destructive forces of nature into natural productive forces, using, for example, wave energy to generate electricity. Under certain conditions, the water area itself is considered as a resource for settlement, development of the marine economy.

The structure of the resources of the World Ocean is very complex. It is a vast, complex dynamic system consisting of the oceanic lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. Each of them is a source of resources, used or potential.

The objects of development of the lithosphere are the surface layer and the bowels of the seabed. Minerals are mined here, various engineering structures are being erected.

In the oceanic hydrosphere, the resources are its dynamic properties and processes that make it possible to produce energy, ensure the transportation of goods and passengers, and develop mariculture and recreation. The resource is the seawater substrate itself used in industrial production, agriculture and life. Various chemical elements and fresh water are obtained from it. One of the features water resources The ocean as a natural element is that they cannot be fully utilized. Water must necessarily participate in the natural cycle of substances as an indispensable condition for maintaining life on Earth. For a long time, the reproduction of water resources was considered only a natural process occurring in the natural environment. Now it has become clear that the ability of water to self-purify is limited and labor and energy costs are required for the rational management of water management.

The oceanic atmosphere interacts with the hydrosphere, largely determining the nature of the geophysical, geochemical, and biological processes occurring in it. In addition, the wind energy of the atmosphere itself has long been used in sailing.

The oceanic biosphere provides man with animals and plants necessary for industrial and agricultural production, medical practice, etc. The biological resources of the ocean, like water, are renewable resources, but this does not mean their eternal existence. Under the influence of man, there is not only a reduction in reproduction, but often the destruction of one or another biological species.

Of particular importance in the system of the marine economy is the coast, or the coastal zone, which is understood as the unity of the territory and water area. In this case, the resource-forming factor is the length of the coast, and the parameters and properties of the coastal zone are the presence of beaches, the sinuosity of the shore line, the features of the interaction of land and water, the width of the coastal zone, etc. These resources are used by many branches of the marine economy, including recreation .

For rational use, substantiation of the order of priority for the development of natural resources, their comprehensive assessment is necessary. One of the universal ways of such an assessment is the reproduction approach, in which each resource and the entire system is evaluated according to the costs of artificially recreating an object with equal quantity and equivalent quality under conditions of intensive production.

The assessment of ocean resources is largely determined by their presence on land. The use of marine resources is economically justified if the cost of producing comparable products is less than on land. But with an absolute shortage of a particular resource on land, its industrial development in the ocean may be expedient, even if the costs are higher than on land. Comparative calculations of the economic efficiency of the use of marine resources should take into account the prospects of their exploitation in comparison with land-based counterparts. The development of some marine resources may not be feasible at present, but calculations make it possible to determine the conditions under which it will occur.

The assessment of marine resources is especially necessary in determining the effectiveness of major resource development and environmental transformation efforts. Since their implementation is associated with the inevitable loss of part of the natural wealth and local deterioration in the living conditions of people. The valuation cannot be the only criterion in resolving the issue of the integrated and rational use of natural resources. When assessing natural resources, one should proceed from rational environmental management in ocean conditions. This is understood as a geoecologically balanced management, alien to consumer maximalism and based on an equivalent combination of consumption, protection and reproduction, biological, recreational and other resources. Only in this case, human society has the right to count on harmonious co-evolution with nature.

The resources of the World Ocean are divided into non-renewable, reserves, which are not reproduced at a rate comparable to the pace of human development, and renewable, which are reproduced by the course of natural processes established on Earth and are characterized by a certain ratio between annual income and consumption, including their use by man. With regard to the use of the natural resources of the World Ocean in economic activities, they are divided into the following types: biological, raw materials (mineral, chemical, water), energy and recreational.

Biological resources of the World Ocean. The biological resources of the ocean are understood as the reserves of marine plants and animals, which, with existing knowledge and the development of technology, are economically feasible to use in economic circulation to meet the needs of society without prejudice to their natural reproduction.

At all times, starting from primitive society, mining and processing biological resources were an important part of human activity. About 80-90 million tons of seafood are caught annually in the ocean. Of these, 30-35 million tons are processed into feed flour for animals, and the rest make up only about 1% of the food produced on the planet. Now food products obtained from the aquatic environment in the world make up 24% of animal protein, significantly inferior to dairy (43%) and meat (35%) products. At the same time, only nekton animals annually produce up to 40 million tons of protein, 8 million tons of fats (twice as much as the world animal husbandry provides) and 2 million tons of carbohydrates.

Two conflicting directions collide in the assessment of ocean food resources. On the other hand, the opinion about the inexhaustibility of resources has not been eliminated, which in practice has repeatedly led to overfishing of certain species of fish and other marine animals, and sometimes to their extinction as a biological species. On the other hand, there are many predictions that the limits of the possible catch will soon be reached. Therefore, it is important to know the biological productivity of the ocean, all its trophic levels and the final links that form the basis of human consumption.

To assess the plant and animal resources of the ocean, it is important not only to calculate the biomass reserves in the water area, but also to determine its growth per unit time.

A distinction is made between primary production, when organic matter is synthesized from mineral substances, and secondary production, which is formed by all organisms that feed on organic matter directly or in the process of eating each other.

During production, useful, useless and harmful organisms arise. The quality of organisms, the degree of their usefulness reflects the evolution of human interests and the ability to satisfy them, it depends on folk traditions, social conditions, the level of civilization and technological progress.

The primary basis for the biological productivity of the entire ocean is bacterio- and phytoplankton. As a result of the photosynthetically active activity of plants in water bodies, a reserve of energy is created, due to which all organisms live. In addition to photochemical processes, assimilation processes, caused by bacteria, take place in the ocean. who serve important element nutrition for zooplankton and fish at the larval stage of development.

The development of phytoplankton is significantly affected by the supply of biogenic substances, illumination and water temperature. The main mass of phytoplankton is in the upper layer of water (up to 100-150 m). Its largest amount is concentrated in regions of temperate and subpolar latitudes, a relatively narrow equatorial strip, coastal regions and upwelling zones. The high bioproductivity of these areas is explained by the intense vertical and horizontal mixing of waters, which deliver nutrients to the upper, photic layer of the ocean. The total mass of phytoplankton annually formed in the ocean reaches 1200 billion tons, the basis of which (80-90%) are peridynes and diatoms.

The basis of phytobenthos is macrophytes. These are brown, red, green algae and some of the higher flowering plants. During the year, they produce a mass equal to their biomass - about 0.2 billion tons. Macrophytes are not of decisive importance in the process of further creation of organic matter in the ocean, but are consumed by humans, used for livestock feed, as fertilizers, medicines, bread ingredients, sweets, canned meat, various emulsions, raw materials for potash and iodine , soda, etc.

Phytoplankton is food for most zooplankton species, but not all, as some species feed on bacteria or zooplankton. Of more than 2000 species of planktonic animals, crustaceans (1200 species) and coelenterates (400 species) are the most widely represented. Zooplankton, like phytoplankton, lives mainly in the surface horizons of the ocean. It makes constant daily and seasonal migrations. The biomass of zooplankton is approximately 20-25 billion tons, the annual production is up to 60 billion tons.

Stocks of zoobenthos - animals (without fish) living on the bottom or near the bottom of the ocean, mainly in the shelf zone - are estimated at 10 billion tons. Its annual production is low, about 3.3 billion tons. Many types of benthic organisms are not used in food chains are not food for fish and mammals. The biomass of animal benthos capable of participating in the production of organisms useful to humans or entering directly into human food is approximately 2 billion tons, and the annual production is about 1 billion tons.

As a rule, the last links in the food chain that are directly used by humans are nekton animals - large representatives of the marine fauna that have the ability to actively move in the water for considerable distances. Nekton is mainly represented by fish, mammals, cephalopods (mainly squids) and higher crayfish (the most numerous of them are shrimps). A rough estimate of the total amount of nekton is 1 billion tons, half of which is fish. The annual production of nekton is about 360 million tons. In total, there are about 16,000 species of fish in the oceans. Of these, only 800 are marine fisheries, and only 76 species of fish make up 56% of the world catch.

The biological productivity of the ocean is the basis of the food resources that the ocean provides to man and which can be used by him. The main directions for increasing the efficiency of their use are related to scientific research of the ocean biota, the development of its integrated biological model, the discovery of new fishing areas in the open ocean and shallow water areas, the improvement of fishing gear, the identification of new fishing objects and the development of mariculture.

Raw resources of the World Ocean. Sea water contains 76 elements of the periodic table. 11 of them account for 99.98% of the mass of all salts dissolved in the ocean. This is primarily chlorine (19 g / l), it is most of all in the form of chlorides, then sodium (11 g / l), sulfur in various compounds (3 g / l), magnesium (1.3 g / l), calcium ( 0.4 g/l), potassium (0.4 g/l), compounds of carbon, strontium, bromine, fluorine and boron. In addition, organic and biogenic substances, as well as gases (oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, argon, etc.) are dissolved in sea water. The cost of all substances contained in 1 km 3 of water exceeds 1 billion US dollars. The reserves of chlorine alone in the ocean are 29.3 10 15 tons, sodium - 16.3 10 15 tons. Therefore, sea water is often called the “ore of the future”.

Salt extraction is the most ancient fishery of mineral resources from sea water. Even before our era, the Egyptians mined salt from the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Until now, about a third of the world's salt consumption (about 35 million tons) is provided by evaporating it from sea water. The extraction of table salt occurs, as a rule, in an ancient way, using solar energy in sedimentary basins. To obtain 1 million tons of salt, it is necessary to evaporate approximately 120 million tons of sea water. Table salt is not only a valuable food product. It is used to make hydrochloric acid, in the production of glass, soap, paper, refining fats, smelting metals, etc. Salt reserves in the ocean will last for billions of years.

Sea water and salt deposits of dried seas are the main source of bromine. Modern production of bromine in the world reaches 100 thousand tons per year. It is widely used as an antiknock agent, in the production of dyes, drugs, photoreagents, fire extinguishers, etc.

The concentration of magnesium in sea water is 300 times less than in terrestrial ores, but even now the production of magnesium from water is cheaper than from solid ores. Magnesium was first mined from sea water in England in 1916. Now about 40% of the magnesium consumed in the world is obtained from it. Magnesium and magnesium compounds are widely used in aircraft and rocket building, construction, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, pharmaceutical, light industry and agriculture.

The development of nuclear energy has dramatically increased the demand for uranium. Its reserves on land are only 800 thousand tons. Sea water contains about 4 billion tons of uranium. Various methods for extracting uranium from sea water are being patented in many countries. It is assumed that by the year 2000 one third of uranium will be mined from the sea.

A number of countries are trying to find "cheap" ways to extract gold from sea water. 10 million tons of gold are dissolved in it, while on land its reserves are only 35 thousand tons. One of the ways to mine gold using ion-exchange resin plants allows you to get about 1 mg of gold from 500 thousand liters of water. With this method of gold mining, the costs are several thousand times higher than the income. It may be more promising to mine silver, since its concentration in sea water is 60 times higher than gold. 600 million tons of silver are dissolved in the ocean. Its reserves on land are only 130 thousand tons.

It is not profitable to extract mineral raw materials from sea water at a concentration lower than the concentration of boron (4.6 mg/l), including gold and silver, with modern technology. There is a search for new ways to extract valuable trace elements, including biochemical methods. Marine animals and plants have the ability to absorb and concentrate certain chemical elements in their bodies. Extraction of iodine from marine environment It is carried out by processing algae, which accumulate it hundreds of times more than is contained in water. Significant concentrations of cobalt and radioactive plutonium-239 were found in the body of sea crayfish (lobsters and spiny lobsters), vanadium - in the tissues of sea cucumbers and ascidians, copper - in the fiber of oysters, zinc, tin and lead - in the tissues of jellyfish. It is possible that in the near future farm plants will be created to obtain mineral elements. It is promising to obtain microelements from hot brines in the zone of underwater hydrotherms confined to rift faults of the seabed. The concentration of iron, manganese, zinc, lead, copper, gold, silver and other metals in brines is thousands of times greater than their content in sea water. Japan has developed methods for extracting lithium, rubidium and cesium from the by-products of salt production from sea water. These metals are used in rocket, nuclear, radio-electronic engineering.

In sea water, in addition to dissolved substances, there is a huge amount of suspended particles. A significant part of gold, manganese, lead, iron, silica, cobalt, etc. is found in the ocean in the form of a colloidal suspension. Not found yet effective ways extraction of suspended particles of minerals, but intensive scientific research is being carried out in this area.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the consumption of fresh water has increased dramatically. It has reached almost 4000 km 3 per year, and in the next 20-30 years it will increase by at least 1.5 times. The rapid growth of the world's population, the increase in fresh water consumption by agriculture and industry have turned the problem of water scarcity from local to global. Marine resources play an increasingly important role in solving this problem.

The creation of industrial desalination plants began to be engaged only in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The distillation method of desalination is well and advantageously combined with the production of electricity in dual-purpose nuclear power plants. Along with the improvement of the distillation method, other methods of obtaining fresh water are being developed and applied: by natural and artificial freezing (gas hydrate method); chemical processes of ion exchange (reagent methods); extraction processes; using membranes (electrodialysis); biological methods. Technological progress in the ways and methods of water desalination has led to a sharp decrease in the cost of its production. Now the volume of desalinated sea waters in the world reaches up to 40 million m 3 of water per day.

Significant fresh water resources are contained in continental and shelf ice. They are concentrated mainly in Antarctica and make up about 24 million km3. The ice continent annually sends 2800 km 3 of ice into the ocean in the form of icebergs, which corresponds to 2400 km 3 of fresh water. The issue of transporting icebergs in order to obtain fresh water has been repeatedly discussed at various international forums. Many options for solving this problem have been proposed. There are other projects to deliver water from the ice domes of Antarctica and Greenland. But the time has not yet come for the wide use of fresh glacial waters. Their huge reserves are the most important reserve of mankind.

Offshore oil fields have been known for a long time. In 1824, in the Baku region, 20-30 meters from the shore, wells were built, isolated from water, and oil was scooped from shallow horizons. In 1870, in the vicinity of the city of Izumosaki in Japan, an island was reclaimed for oil rigs. In 1891, drilling of inclined wells began on the Californian coast, going up to 200 meters from the coast. In 1933, the first offshore underwater oil well was drilled in Maracaibo Bay.

Now oil and gas fields have been discovered in 50 countries, and 25 countries are producing. Exploration drilling depths have reached 2,500 meters, and operational work is being carried out at depths of up to 1,000 meters. In 1985, the share of offshore oil in total world production was 28.4%, and the share of gas was 20%. By the year 2000, half of the oil and gas will come from the depths of the oceans. Exploration and production of oil and gas is served by a large specialized fleet of more than 3,500 vessels and a fleet of 2,000 helicopters. More than 10,000 oil platforms have been erected, huge underwater oil storage facilities are being installed, and a network of underwater pipelines is rapidly growing, reaching 30,000 miles. The construction of oil and gas refineries directly in the sea on artificial islands began.

Offshore oil production requires huge capital expenditures. The cost of one modern drilling rig, depending on the design, ranges from 25 to 180 million dollars, and the cost of an oil platform reaches 2 billion US dollars. The amount of costs depends on the depth of the sea, geological, hydrological, meteorological, ice and other factors. Drilling one well in the Mexican or Persian Gulf costs about 1 million dollars, and in the Beaufort and Bering Seas - up to 70-90 million dollars. However, the total gross income from the sale of offshore oil is 4 times higher than the costs.

The oldest and most developed area of offshore oil and gas production is the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. About 700 industrial accumulations of oil have been discovered off the American coast of the Gulf, which is 50% of all deposits known in the World Ocean. The second oldest offshore hydrocarbon production area is the Maracaibo lagoon. The first place in offshore oil production is occupied by the countries of the Persian Gulf. Together with the adjacent land of the Arabian Peninsula, the bay contains more than half of the world's oil reserves. The water area of the North Sea is a significant oil and gas region. West Africa is becoming one of the largest and most promising regions of oil production. The development of oil and gas resources of China's continental shelf is promising. The deposits off the coast of California, Indonesia, Indochina, the shelf zone of Australia, the Cook Inlet (Alaska), the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the Arctic Ocean and the Caspian Sea are very rich in hydrocarbons.

According to various sources, estimates of potentially recoverable offshore oil and gas resources in terms of oil range from 100 to 311 billion tons, of which 68% lie at depths of up to 200 meters.

Recently discovered gas hydrate deposits on the bottom surface and in the muddy bottom soil of deep ocean basins may turn out to be promising. Gas hydrates are compounds of hydrocarbon gases with water that are in a highly compressed state. Their physical properties are similar to ice. One cubic meter of hydrate contains 200 m 3 of gas. The total reserves of solid combustible gas at the bottom of the ocean are hundreds of times greater than the reserves of coal, oil and gas in all the deposits explored to date. Thus, the structure and volume of potential hydrocarbon resources are favorable for the development of the oil and gas industry in the World Ocean.

Solid minerals. Deposits of solid minerals are subdivided into primary, occurring at the place of their original occurrence, and alluvial, which are formed mainly as a result of the removal of clastic material by rivers, near the coastline on land and in shallow water. Indigenous, in turn, are divided into buried, which are extracted from the bowels of the bottom, and surface, located at the bottom in the form of nodules, silts, etc.

Highest value after oil and gas, they currently have placer deposits of metal-bearing minerals, diamonds, building materials and amber. For certain types of raw materials, marine placers are of predominant importance. They supply the world market with 100% zirconium and rutile, 80% ilmenite and over 40% cassiterite. The leading place in the extraction of placer metal-bearing minerals belongs to Australia. Placers stretch along its eastern coast for one and a half thousand kilometers. They contain about 1 million tons of rutile, 1.4 million tons of zircon and 30.0 thousand tons of monazite. Rich ilmenite-zircon placers have been found off the coast of Africa, Brazil, USA, New Zealand, India, and Sri Lanka. Titanium-magnetite and magnetite deposits are being developed off the island of Honshu in Japan, on the coast of New Zealand and Washington State in the USA, in the Baltic and Black Seas, off about. Iturup and other regions. Zirconium, titanium, hafnium and other metals of great strategic importance are obtained from these minerals. They are used in nuclear power engineering, electronic engineering, in the production of heat-resistant and refractory alloys for aviation and rocket technology.

Much attention in the world is paid to the extraction of cassiterite - tin ore. Now, 10% of the world's tin is obtained from the ocean. Its main deposits are located in the coastal zone of Southeast Asia, Australia, Tasmania, Great Britain and other areas.

On the southwest coast of Africa, diamondiferous sands are exploited, which account for 5% of the volume and 20% of the gross value of world diamond production. They are also mined off the coast of Namibia, Angola, Sierra Leone. The gold-bearing sands of the sea coasts, especially the Gold Coast near the city of Nome (Alaska), are well known since the days of the “gold rush”. Since 1964, the Nom Chold Coast placer has been developed with a gold grade of 15 g/m 3 . The total gold reserves in this area are estimated at 37.7 tons (with a content of at least 0.25 g/m3). Gold-bearing sands are known along the coasts of California, Panama, Chile, Turkey, Egypt, and Southwest Africa. Since 1935, in Goodnews Bay (Alaska), at a sea depth of 30 meters, platinum sands with a platinum content of up to 10 g/m 3 have been developed. In the USA, up to 90% of platinum is obtained from the seabed.

Amber, an ornamental item and a valuable raw material for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, is found on the shores of the Baltic, North and Barents Seas. On an industrial scale, amber is mined in Russia, in largest quantities it is collected on the beaches of Poland.

Among non-metallic raw materials in the shelf zone, glauconite, phosphorite, pyrite, dolomite, barite, building materials - gravel, sand, clay, shell rock are of interest. Resources of non-metallic raw materials will last for thousands of years. Many coastal countries are engaged in intensive extraction of building materials from the sea.

In recent years, favorable prospects for the extraction of primary deposits of the marine subsoil by the mine-ore method have been identified. More than a hundred underwater mines and mines are known, laid down from the coast of the continents, natural and artificial islands for the extraction of coal, iron ore, copper-nickel ores, tin, mercury, limestone and other minerals of the buried type. Some of the mines and shafts reach depths of 2400 meters below sea level, are removed from the coast at a distance of up to 8 km in the sea with depths of up to 120 meters.

Coal is currently mined from underwater deposits - off the coast of Canada, Japan, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia; iron ore - off the Newfoundland island, in the coastal zone of Japan, France, Finland and Sweden; copper and nickel in Hudson Bay; tin - off the Cornwall peninsula in England; mercury - off the coast of Turkey in the Aegean Sea; sulfur - off the coast of Louisiana in the United States.

Significant mineral resources lie in the deep-water regions of the ocean. Hot brines and silts rich in metals (iron, manganese, zinc, lead, copper, silver, gold) have been found in the deep waters of the Red Sea. The concentration of these metals in hot brines exceeds their content in sea water up to 50 · 10 3 times. Their reserves in the metal-bearing silts of the Red Sea are estimated at 130 million tons. The upper 30-meter layer of sediments here contains gold, copper, zinc and silver worth 2-3 billion US dollars.

More than 100 million km 2 of the ocean floor is covered with a layer of red deep-sea clay up to 200 meters thick. They contain 15-20% aluminum oxide, 13% iron oxide, as well as manganese, copper, nickel, vanadium, cobalt, and lead. Red clay reserves are estimated at 10,000 trillion. tons, and their annual growth is 500 million tons. Glauconite sands (aluminosilicates of potassium and iron), calcareous and siliceous silts are widespread in the World Ocean. The reserves of limestone bottom sediments (globigerine, foraminiferal) are estimated at 10,000 trillion. tons, and siliceous (diatom) - 10 trillion. tons.

Concretions are of particular interest in the world. Huge areas of the seabed are covered with ferromanganese, phosphorite and barite nodules. They are of purely marine origin, formed as a result of the deposition of water-soluble substances on any substrate.

Phosphorite concretions contain a mineral - phosphorite, widely used as a fertilizer in agriculture. In addition to phosphorite nodules, phosphorites and phosphorite-containing rocks are found in phosphate sands and reservoir deposits at different depths of the ocean. The world's potential reserves of phosphate raw materials in the ocean are estimated at hundreds of billions of tons. Commercial reserves of phosphorites have been found near the Californian and Mexican coasts, along the coastal zone of South Africa, Argentina, the east coast of the United States, in the shelf parts of the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of New Zealand, in the Baltic Sea. Significant reserves of phosphorites are found in the central parts of the oceans.

Barite nodules containing 75-77% barium sulfate used in the chemical and food industries have been found off the coast of Sri Lanka, in the Sea of Japan and other areas.

Ferromanganese nodules have been known for over 100 years. They cover the bottom in many areas of the World Ocean, but their most valuable and promising deposits are located in the Pacific Ocean. The composition of these nodules includes many metals: manganese, copper, cobalt, nickel, iron, magnesium, aluminum, molybdenum, vanadium, up to 30 elements in total, but iron and manganese predominate. The reserves of ferromanganese nodules are estimated at 2-3 trillion. tons. They exceed the reserves available on land for cobalt by 5000 times, manganese by 4000, nickel by 1500, aluminum by 200, copper by 150, molybdenum by 60, lead by 50 and iron by 4 times. In the USA, Japan and other countries, hydraulic and mechanical methods mining of ferromanganese nodules. Deep-sea submersibles with video systems, drilling devices, remote control have been created, which have expanded the possibilities of their study. Many experts predict a bright future for the mining of ferromanganese nodules, arguing that their mass production will put an end to the mining industry on land. However, there are still many unresolved technical, operational, environmental and political problems on the way to the development of nodules.

Energy resources of the oceans. The problems of the Earth's energy reserves became especially relevant in the early 1970s, when many industrialized countries felt a lack of energy resources. Today, in the global energy balance, 97% of the needs are covered by non-renewable resources. At a projected average annual growth rate of 4% in energy consumption, the world's reserves of coal, oil and gas will be exhausted in about 150 years. Estimating the reserves of nuclear fuel is much more difficult, but they are not unlimited. Certain hopes are associated with work in the field of thermonuclear energy. But nuclear and thermonuclear, as well as fuel, have a significant drawback - the transfer of part of the converted heat into the atmosphere. Scientists believe that if the amount of this “artificial” thermal energy reaches 5% of the solar radiation entering the Earth, then irreversible changes in the heat balance and climate on Earth can occur. The difficulties experienced and the demands of tomorrow determine the structural changes in the world energy economy. Mankind is increasingly forced to turn to renewable, environmentally friendly energy resources, determined by the electromagnetic radiation of the sun, the heat of the earth's interior and gravitational forces due to the movement of the Moon and the Sun. Works in the field of solar, wind and geothermal energy are widely conducted all over the world. A significant role in the energy of the future is given to the possibility of using the energy of the oceans.

The total renewable energy of the oceans includes energy of various types. This is the energy of wind, waves, tides, ocean currents, temperature gradient, salinity gradient and algae biomass. Estimates of the energy reserves of each type of ocean energy, both total and allowable for conversion, differ significantly. It is practically necessary to use the energy resources of the World Ocean within such limits that the transformation of energy does not lead to irreversible changes in the environment.

The current consumption of all types of energy in the world is approximately 10 billion tons of reference fuel per year (tce/year). At the same time, the progress of technical thought in the future allows using the energy stored in the ocean to receive at least 200 billion tons of fuel equivalent per year, i.e. practically solve the energy problem for the next century. However, this is not easy to do. The energy concentration of the water masses is very low, and in order to obtain the required amount of heat and electricity, it is necessary to build large structures capable of processing huge volumes of water. Great technical difficulties are also determined by the uneven and random energy return due to the variability of the oceanic environment.

Ocean energy research has been actively conducted since the early 1970s in the USA, Japan, France, Great Britain, Norway and a number of other countries. At present, scientific and technical programs are being carried out in many countries that provide for the study of ocean energy resources, and demonstration and industrial ocean energy installations have been created.

There are five main renewable energy sources of the World Ocean with potential reserves: currents - 0.05 TW, waves - 2.7 TW, tides - 0.03 TW, temperature gradient - 2.0 TW and salinity gradient - 2.6 TW. 1 TW is equal to 10 12 W, which corresponds to the total power of all power plants in the world at the present time.

At present, of the sources of ocean energy under consideration, only tidal energy is practically used in large-scale energy. The principle of obtaining in this case is quite simple. A sea bay protruding into the land, where high tides are observed, is fenced off by a dam. A passage is left in the dam and a turbine is installed in it. At high tide, water flows through the passage into the bay, and at low tide, out of the bay. In both cases, it rotates the turbine and generates electricity. With a favorable outline of the coast and high tide, such a power plant has an economic efficiency comparable to conventional river hydroelectric power plants. In 1967, in France, near the city of Saint-Malo, in the estuary of the Rance Ball River, the world's first tidal power plant (TPP) with a capacity of 240 thousand kW was built. In Russia, the first TPP with a capacity of 400 thousand kW was built in 1968, 100 km from Murmansk in the throat of Kislay Bay. After the Kislogubskaya TPP in 1984, the TPP was built in Canada, and in 1985 in China at the mouth of the river. Qianjiang. TPP projects have been developed in the bays of Saint-Malo (12 million kW), Fandi (6 million kW), Lumbovka on the Kola Peninsula (700 million kW), Penzhina Bay of the Sea of Okhotsk (100 million kW), etc.

The idea of converting ocean heat into electrical energy belongs to Jules Verne's contemporary physicist d'Arsonval, who published an article in 1881 on the possibility of using two types of installations for this purpose - a closed cycle with an intermediate working fluid and an open cycle operating directly on sea water. In OTES operating on a closed Rankine cycle, warm surface water is pumped through the evaporator heat exchanger, turning the working fluid with a low boiling point (ammonia, freon, propane) into steam. Steam high blood pressure passes through the turbine to the refrigerator, where it condenses upon contact with the surface of another heat exchanger, cooled by pumping cold water, which is raised through pipes with a pump from a depth of 700-900 m. With a water temperature difference of 24 ° C, typical for the tropical latitudes of the ocean, about 80% of the generated electricity is spent on the operation of pumps and auxiliary equipment. Thus, the efficiency of OTES, taking into account own needs in the tropics, is no more than 25%. With a water temperature difference of 20 °C, the theoretical efficiency of a closed cycle OTES does not exceed 7%.

In OTES operating on the Claude open cycle, warm sea water is supplied to the evaporator through a deaerator, which frees it from gases dissolved in it, and then brought to a boil by reducing the pressure to 0.03 kgf/cm 2 . The resulting steam rotates a turbine and then condenses in contact with a heat exchanger cooled by water pumped from the depths of the ocean. Currently, preference is given to open-type OTES. The cost of electricity from OTES is 6-8 cents/kWh, which is commensurate with the 2-3 cents/kWh of the cost for thermal power plants (coal) and is much cheaper than the cost of electricity from solar installations ($2/kWh). The first experimental OTES with a power of 22 kW was designed by a student of d'Arnsonval, the French engineer J. Claude, and in 1928 he tested it on the northern coast of Cuba. Now OTES operate in Japan, USA, France, Great Britain and other countries. Intensive research is being carried out in this area.

The world's first patent for a device using wave energy was issued to the French - father and son Gerard in 1799. One of the first practically operating wave installations designed to supply water to a water tower began operating in 1889 on the coast near New York. The complexity of the implementation of numerous projects for the conversion of wave energy is determined by the low concentration of energy, its variability in space and time, a wide range of fluctuations, the aggressiveness of the ocean environment and significant difficulties in transferring energy to the shore. All wave installations are conditionally divided into two circuits: primary, which provides direct extraction and transfer of wave energy to the working body, and secondary, which converts the extracted energy to a form convenient for the consumer. The primary circuit uses various physical wave effects, such as changes in the water level relative to a stationary body; periodic change in the slope of the wave surface; hydrodynamic fluid pressure on the transducer; variable hydrostatic pressure acting on the installation. As a working body, a structural element of the installation, gas or liquid, including air or sea water, is used. The secondary circuit may consist of several stages in which, at certain stages, the transfer of energy is carried out mechanically, hydraulically or pneumatically. Energy converters can be air and hydraulic turbines, hydraulic motors, piezoelectric generators, induction electrical machines and electric generators. At present, large scientific and technical programs are being carried out in the USA, Japan, Sweden, China and many countries related to the problem of extracting energy from sea waves.

Along with the temperature amplitude, energy sources associated with sea water salinity gradients are characterized by a significant density of energy concentration in the ocean. The following methods of converting the energy of the salinity gradient are known: osmotic, which uses the osmotic flow of water through a semipermeable membrane that separates solutions of different concentrations; reverse electrolysis, when directed diffusion of ions through the cation-exchange and anion-exchange membranes to the electrodes is used; adiabatic expansion of steam, when the pressure difference of water vapor over solutions of different concentrations is worked out in a vacuum steam turbine; electrochemical, in which electricity arises between reversible electrodes placed in sea and fresh water, flows, which are separated by a porous partition; mechanical-chemical, when cyclic compression is used - the expansion of some polymers in contact with solutions of different concentrations; freezing, which uses an increase in volume or pressure to freeze fresh water by using colder sea water.

The estimated cost of electricity that can be obtained using a seawater salinity gradient is about 3-4 cents / kWh. Since 1979, scientific development of programs and projects in this area has been carried out in the USA, Sweden, Japan, Israel and other countries, pilot plants have been created to use the energy of the sea water salinity gradient.

Currently, there are numerous projects for the use of the energy of sea currents for large and small energy. Most of them are based on the use of impellers with a vertical or horizontal axis of rotation, immersed in a stream of water. At the same time, the ideas of wind energy are widely implemented - the Darrieus turbine, the Savonius rotor, as well as horizontal hydro turbines and other types of water engines.

In solving the world's energy problems, more and more attention is paid to the use of hydrogen as a likely replacement for liquid fuels and natural gas. In Japan, installations for the production of hydrogen from sea water have been developed. A practically inexhaustible source of energy is thermonuclear fusion using deuterium - heavy hydrogen. The ocean contains about 2.5 x 10 13 tons of deuterium. The amount of heavy hydrogen contained in 1 liter of water can provide as much energy as 120 liters of gasoline. The development of thermonuclear energy will significantly increase the use of energy resources in the oceans.

Another very interesting area is oceanic bioenergy, which allows you to “grow” fuel in the ocean. A huge amount of solar energy is accumulated by brown algae, which under natural conditions grow by 60 centimeters per day, reaching a length of up to 60 meters. In the last decade, their green mass has become a potential source of methane - a substitute for natural gas.

The oceans are our cradle and future. Man has always dreamed of subjugating his mighty energy. Today, fantasy is becoming reality. The main advantage of ocean energy is the relative inexhaustibility of its sources. In addition, the conversion of all types of energy of the World Ocean and their use occurs without heat generation in environment in contrast to the currently existing traditional power plants on chemical and nuclear fuel. As for the possible harmful impact on the environment, it can be prevented by technical means and reasonable consumption of ocean energy.

Recreational resources. Recreation is understood as a system that meets the needs of recreants (vacationers) in using their free time for recreational, sports, cultural and entertainment activities. It develops in specialized territories located outside the settlement, which is the place of their permanent residence. Long-term rest (recreation with an overnight stay outside the place of permanent residence) in its content coincides with the concept of tourism. Most tourists pursue the goal of recreation.

Since ancient times, the ocean and its shores have attracted man as a place of rest and restoration of health. Currently, thalassotherapy is gaining more and more development - treatment by the sea with the use of tonic and training methods of healing. Sea shores have rich climatobalneological possibilities due to the specific impact of sea water and coastal climate on the human body. sea salts, saturating the air, are easily absorbed by the surface of the lungs, favorably affecting the metabolic processes in the body. Impurities of bromine salts, the rhythmic sound of the surf and the view of a calm sea contribute to the removal of excitation of the central nervous system. Sea water has a healing effect on all functions of the human body, increases its reactivity. Magnesium ions of sea water activate vital processes associated with the formation of bone tissue, cell division, and metabolism. The accumulation of magnesium in the human body stimulates the excretion of radioactive elements from it. The use of sea water in many cases gives a great therapeutic effect, has a positive effect on the respiratory system, blood circulation, internal secretion organs, nervous system, etc. An important factor seaside resorts are sea bathing, which has a noticeable effect on the nervous system and internal organs. Often the attractiveness of sea coasts is enhanced by the presence of therapeutic mud and mineral waters.

The geography of the recreational use of sea and ocean coasts depends on the attractiveness (attractiveness) of certain sections of the coast, it is associated with accessibility and convenience of location, climate features, development of the service sector, socio-historical factor, opportunities for the development of marine sports, sport fishing, etc. d.

In Europe, the most attractive places for vacationers and tourists are the shores of the Mediterranean, Black, North and Baltic Seas. In North America, the coast of Florida and California stands out for its attractiveness. Mexico has large resorts on the Pacific coast. The resorts of the Antilles and Bermuda, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, etc. are famous. In Africa, the northern coasts of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt have large recreational resources. Favorable conditions for the development of coastal recreation are available in India, Japan, Vietnam, Australia and other regions.

The ocean is also of great transport importance. Maritime transport accounts for about 80% of the world's cargo turnover and over 95% of the traffic associated with world trade. The concept of "sea transport" is developing with the development of the ocean and the rapid scientific and technological progress. In the World Ocean, pipeline transport, aviation, and power lines are becoming more and more developed. They acquire specific features determined by the conditions of the ocean. As a result of the construction of tunnels and bridges across sea barriers, such purely land modes of transport as road and rail are being introduced into the ocean.

In our time, "the era global problems”, The world ocean plays an increasingly important role in the life of mankind. Being a huge pantry of mineral, energy, plant and animal wealth, which - with their rational consumption and artificial reproduction - can be considered practically inexhaustible, the Ocean is able to solve one of the most pressing problems: the need to provide a rapidly growing population with food and raw materials for a developing industry, danger of an energy crisis, lack of fresh water.

In addition to the isolation of chemical elements, sea water can be used to obtain fresh water necessary for humans. Many commercial desalination methods are now available: chemical reactions are used to remove impurities from water; salt water is passed through special filters; finally, the usual boiling is performed. But desalination is not the only way to obtain potable water. There are bottom sources that are increasingly being found on the continental shelf, that is, in areas of the continental shelf adjacent to the shores of land and having the same geological structure as it. One of these sources, located off the coast of France - in Normandy, gives such an amount of water that it is called an underground river.

The mineral resources of the World Ocean are represented not only by sea water, but also by what is “under water”. The bowels of the ocean, its bottom are rich in mineral deposits. On the continental shelf there are coastal placer deposits - gold, platinum; there are also precious stones - rubies, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds. For example, near Namibia, diamond gravel has been mined underwater since 1962. On the shelf and partly on the continental slope of the Ocean, there are large deposits of phosphorites that can be used as fertilizers, and the reserves will last for the next few hundred years. The most interesting type of mineral raw material of the World Ocean is the famous ferromanganese nodules, which cover vast underwater plains. Concretions are a kind of "cocktail" of metals: they include copper, cobalt, nickel, titanium, vanadium, but, of course, most of all iron and manganese.

Their locations are well known, but the results of industrial development are still very modest. But the exploration and production of oceanic oil and gas on the coastal shelf is in full swing, the share of offshore production is approaching 1/3 of the world production of these energy carriers. On an especially large scale, deposits are being developed in the Persian, Venezuelan, Gulf of Mexico, and in the North Sea; oil platforms stretched off the coast of California, Indonesia, in the Mediterranean and Caspian Seas. The Gulf of Mexico is also famous for the sulfur deposit discovered during oil exploration, which is melted from the bottom with the help of superheated water.

Another, as yet untouched pantry of the ocean are deep crevices, where a new bottom is formed. So, for example, hot (more than 60 degrees) and heavy brines of the Red Sea depression contain huge reserves of silver, tin, copper, iron and other metals. The extraction of materials in shallow water is becoming more and more important. Around Japan, for example, underwater iron-bearing sands are sucked out through pipes, the country extracts about 20% of coal from sea mines - an artificial island is built over rock deposits and a shaft is drilled that reveals coal seams.

Many natural processes occurring in the World Ocean - movement, temperature regime of waters - are inexhaustible energy resources. For example, the total tidal power of the Ocean is estimated at 1 to 6 billion kWh. This property of ebb and flow was used in France already in the Middle Ages: in the XII century, mills were built, the wheels of which were set in motion by a tidal wave. Today in France there are modern power plants that use the same principle of operation: the rotation of the turbines at high tide occurs in one direction, and at low tide - in the other.

The main wealth of the World Ocean is its biological resources (fish, zoo- and phytoplankton, and others). The biomass of the Ocean has 150 thousand species of animals and 10 thousand algae, and its total volume is estimated at 35 billion tons, which may well be enough to feed 30 billion! human. Catching 85-90 million tons of fish annually, it accounts for 85% of the used marine products, shellfish, algae, humanity provides about 20% of its needs for animal proteins. The living world of the Ocean is a huge food resource that can be inexhaustible if used properly and carefully.

The maximum fish catch should not exceed 150-180 million tons per year: it is very dangerous to exceed this limit, as irreparable losses will occur. Many varieties of fish, whales, and pinnipeds have almost disappeared from ocean waters due to immoderate hunting, and it is not known whether their population will ever recover. But the population of the Earth is growing at a rapid pace, increasingly in need of marine products. There are several ways to increase its productivity. The first is to remove from the ocean not only fish, but also zooplankton, part of which - Antarctic krill - has already been eaten. It is possible, without any damage to the Ocean, to catch it in much larger quantities than all the fish caught at the present time. The second way is to use the biological resources of the open ocean. The biological productivity of the Ocean is especially great in the area of upwelling of deep waters.

One of such upwellings Upwelling is the rise of water from the depth of a reservoir to the surface. It is caused by steadily blowing winds that drive surface waters towards the open sea, and in return, the waters of the underlying layers rise to the surface., located off the coast of Peru, provides 15% of the world's fish production, although its area is no more than two hundredths of a percent of the entire surface of the World ocean. Finally, the third way is the cultural breeding of living organisms, mainly in coastal zones. All these three methods have been successfully tested in many countries of the world, but locally, therefore, the fish catch, which is detrimental in terms of volume, continues. At the end of the 20th century, the Norwegian, Bering, Okhotsk, and Sea of Japan were considered the most productive water areas.

The ocean, being a pantry of the most diverse resources, is also a free and convenient road that connects distant continents and islands. Maritime transport provides almost 80% of transportation between countries, serving the growing global production and exchange.

The oceans can serve as a waste recycler. Due to the chemical and physical effects of its waters and the biological influence of living organisms, it disperses and purifies the bulk of the waste entering it, maintaining the relative balance of the Earth's ecosystems. For 3000 years, as a result of the water cycle in nature, all the water in the oceans is renewed.

It is a continuous space that washes the continents and the islands adjacent to them. The waters of the entire world ocean are distinguished by the same salt composition. The resources of the world's oceans play an important role for mankind. Their quantity and variety can provide people with everything necessary for life. A more rational use of useful reserves will solve many problems associated with a lack of raw materials and food.

The resources of the oceans are divided into energy, animal, mineral and vegetable. Let's take a closer look at each of these categories.

Biological resources, in turn, are divided into animals and plant organisms that live in the vast waters of the oceans. The variety of biological resources in this part of the planet is 140 thousand species. This testifies to the diversity and richness of the oceans. The most demanded of biological resources are animals that live in large numbers in the water column. Plants and animals, which are called benthic organisms, are not used so actively. Algae harvesting occurs on a larger scale. They are used in industry for the production of paper, glue, fabric, medicines and much more. Biological resources make up about 20 percent of the protein that a person consumes.

All the world's oceans are also very diverse. Naturally, the main resource is water. In addition to its desalination, which is especially important for humanity, about 75 chemical elements are extracted. Bromine, magnesium, sodium, chlorine are extracted from water, as well as some side compounds that are also necessary.

All ocean waters are in constant motion. They affect the climate and what happens in nature. It is the movement of water that is the source of energy resources. This includes wave energy, tidal power, which reaches 6 billion kWh, and temperature conditions. Ocean energy in our country exceeds the potential of hydroelectric power plants. Also, the oceans are a source of fuel, which will later be used at thermonuclear stations.

The resources of the world's oceans are used by man in various fields activities. It has been around as a source of food for a long time. Since ancient times, the waters of the ocean have served as a place for the extraction of fish and other organisms. But with the development of mining, chemical industry, energy and other fields of science, the role of the resources of the world's oceans has become more significant.

The oceans are not only a sphere of the world economy, but also an area political life. The division and conquest of spheres of influence of this part of the planet is taking place in the world. At the same time, the resources of the world's oceans and their direct extraction are the main object of these relations.

The oceans are the concentration of all aspects of human life. Therefore, rational use of its resources is necessary. Some of their varieties are able to reproduce themselves, but this requires time and careful attitude on the part of people. Only in this case it is possible to count on the constant replenishment of reserves and the solution due to this of many issues that confront everyone in the world.

In our time, "the era of global problems", the World Ocean plays an increasingly important role in the life of mankind. Being a huge pantry of mineral, energy, plant and animal wealth, which - with their rational consumption and artificial reproduction - can be considered practically inexhaustible, the Ocean is able to solve one of the most pressing problems: the need to provide a rapidly growing population with food and raw materials for a developing industry, danger of an energy crisis, lack of fresh water.

The main resource of the World Ocean is sea water. It contains 75 chemical elements, among which are such important ones as uranium, potassium, bromine, magnesium. And although the main product of sea water is still table salt - 33% of world production, magnesium and bromine are already mined, methods for obtaining a number of metals have long been patented, among them copper and silver, which are necessary for industry, the reserves of which are steadily depleted, when, as in oceanic their waters contain up to half a billion tons. In connection with the development of nuclear energy, there are good prospects for the extraction of uranium and deuterium from the waters of the World Ocean, especially since the reserves of uranium ores on earth are decreasing, and in the Ocean there are 10 billion tons of it, deuterium is generally practically inexhaustible - for every 5000 atoms of ordinary hydrogen there is one heavy atom. In addition to the isolation of chemical elements, sea water can be used to obtain fresh water necessary for humans. Many commercial desalination methods are now available: chemical reactions are used to remove impurities from water; salt water is passed through special filters; finally, the usual boiling is performed. But desalination is not the only way to obtain potable water. There are bottom sources that are increasingly being found on the continental shelf, that is, in areas of the continental shelf adjacent to the shores of land and having the same geological structure as it. One of these sources, located off the coast of France - in Normandy, gives such an amount of water that it is called an underground river.

The mineral resources of the World Ocean are represented not only by sea water, but also by what is "under water". The bowels of the ocean, its bottom are rich in mineral deposits. On the continental shelf there are coastal placer deposits - gold, platinum; there are also precious stones - rubies, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds. For example, near Namibia, diamond gravel has been mined underwater since 1962. On the shelf and partly on the continental slope of the Ocean, there are large deposits of phosphorites that can be used as fertilizers, and the reserves will last for the next few hundred years. The most interesting type of mineral raw material of the World Ocean is the famous ferromanganese nodules, which cover vast underwater plains. Concretions are a kind of "cocktail" of metals: they include copper, cobalt, nickel, titanium, vanadium, but, of course, most of all iron and manganese. Their locations are well known, but the results of industrial development are still very modest. But the exploration and production of oceanic oil and gas on the coastal shelf is in full swing, the share of offshore production is approaching 1/3 of the world production of these energy carriers. On an especially large scale, deposits are being developed in the Persian, Venezuelan, Gulf of Mexico, and in the North Sea; oil platforms stretched off the coast of California, Indonesia, in the Mediterranean and Caspian Seas. The Gulf of Mexico is also famous for the sulfur deposit discovered during oil exploration, which is melted from the bottom with the help of superheated water. Another, as yet untouched pantry of the ocean are deep crevices, where a new bottom is formed. So, for example, hot (more than 60 degrees) and heavy brines of the Red Sea depression contain huge reserves of silver, tin, copper, iron and other metals. The extraction of materials in shallow water is becoming more and more important. Around Japan, for example, underwater iron-bearing sands are sucked out through pipes, the country extracts about 20% of coal from sea mines - an artificial island is built over rock deposits and a shaft is drilled to open coal seams.

The main wealth of the World Ocean is its biological resources (fish, zoo - and phytoplankton and others). The biomass of the Ocean has 150 thousand species of animals and 10 thousand algae, and its total volume is estimated at 35 billion tons, which may well be enough to feed 30 billion! human. Catching 85-90 million tons of fish annually, it accounts for 85% of the used marine products, shellfish, algae, humanity provides about 20% of its needs for animal proteins. The living world of the Ocean is a huge food resource that can be inexhaustible if used properly and carefully. The maximum fish catch should not exceed 150-180 million tons per year: it is very dangerous to exceed this limit, as irreparable losses will occur. Many varieties of fish, whales, and pinnipeds have almost disappeared from ocean waters due to immoderate hunting, and it is not known whether their population will ever recover. But the population of the Earth is growing at a rapid pace, increasingly in need of marine products. There are several ways to increase its productivity. The first is to remove from the ocean not only fish, but also zooplankton, part of which - Antarctic krill - has already been eaten. It is possible, without any damage to the Ocean, to catch it in much larger quantities than all the fish caught at the present time. The second way is to use the biological resources of the open ocean. The biological productivity of the Ocean is especially great in the area of upwelling of deep waters. One of such upwellings Upwelling is the rise of water from the depth of a reservoir to the surface. It is caused by steadily blowing winds that drive surface waters towards the open sea, and in return, the waters of the underlying layers rise to the surface., located off the coast of Peru, provides 15% of the world's fish production, although its area is no more than two hundredths of a percent of the entire surface of the World ocean. Finally, the third way is the cultural breeding of living organisms, mainly in coastal zones. All these three methods have been successfully tested in many countries of the world, but locally, therefore, the fish catch, which is detrimental in terms of volume, continues. At the end of the 20th century, the Norwegian, Bering, Okhotsk, and Sea of Japan were considered the most productive water areas.

In recent years, the cultivation of certain species of organisms on artificially created marine plantations has become increasingly widespread in the world. These fisheries are called mariculture. The development of mariculture takes place in Japan (oysters-pearl oysters), China (oysters-pearl oysters), USA (oysters and mussels), France (oysters), Australia (oysters), the Netherlands (oysters, mussels), the Mediterranean countries of Europe (mussels). In Russia, in the seas of the Far East, they grow seaweed (kelp), sea scallops.

Tidal power plants help solve the problem of the energy crisis on the sea and ocean coasts. Mills also work with the help of surfs. There are projects that will not require the construction of dams, these terrible blood clots on the rivers, to accumulate water - including drinking water and the need for bypass channels will no longer threaten - the glaciers of the Northern Ocean can water the deserts.

Based on the generalization of the material, it can be concluded that the World Ocean is the future of mankind. Numerous organisms live in its waters, many of which are a valuable bioresource of the planet, and in the thickness of the earth's crust covered with the Ocean - most of all the mineral resources of the Earth. Despite the huge prospects for using the depths of the world ocean, as well as its energy from tides, waves, etc., humanity at this stage of its technical development has focused mainly on oil and gas production in easily accessible near-continental areas and active (up to the threat of extermination) catching the biomass of the seas. and oceans of the earth.