My Deep-sea Fishery

After more than two hours, Xiang Yang and the others arrived at a brand new sea area.

In this sea area, Yaoyao can finally see the Antarctic continent.

After seeing the Antarctic continent, the crew immediately put down their work and squeezed to the side of the ship one by one.

"Land, it's the mainland. Brother Yang, come and see, it's the Antarctic continent." Fang Youqun danced with excitement.

"I saw it."

Seeing the Antarctic continent for the first time, Xiang Yang was also very excited.

Antarctica is the last continent discovered by humans, and it is also the only continent in the world that has no human settlements. The total area of ​​this continent is as high as 13.9 million square kilometers, which is almost equivalent to the combined area of ​​my country and the Indian-Pakistan subcontinent. It is the fifth largest state in the world big continent.

Xiang Yang looked at the Antarctic continent, and the whole continent was a vast expanse of whiteness, covered with ice and snow everywhere.

"This is a treasure land that has almost never been developed." Xia Pengjie whispered: "Currently, humans have detected more than 220 kinds of minerals on the Antarctic continent. As long as we can develop any one, we will make a big fortune." Rich."

Xiang Yang shook his head with a smile, he didn't think about such unrealistic things at all, how could he do something that so many countries couldn't do.

Antarctica is divided into East Antarctica and West Antarctica.

East Antarctica extends eastward from 30 degrees east longitude to 170 degrees east longitude, including Coates Land, Queen Maud Land, Enderby Land, Wilkes Land, George V Coast, Victoria Land, Antarctic Plateau and the Pole. Up to 10.18 million square kilometers.

West Antarctica is between 50 degrees west longitude and 160 degrees west longitude, including the Antarctic Peninsula, Alexander Island, and Bird Island.

On the Antarctic continent, there are a large number of scientific research stations and whaling teams from all over the world.

"Look there." Xiang Yang pointed in one direction.

The crew immediately looked in that direction curiously.

Seeing this, everyone's mouths widened in surprise.

"Brother Yang, is this ice floe too?" Fang Youqun asked in shock.

The ice floe in front of them was more than a little bit thicker than the ice floe that Xiang Yang and the others were fishing for Antarctic krill before.

I saw that the ice floe was pure white and flawless, as if it had been piled up by heavy snow.

The whole piece of ice floe is roughly in the shape of a right triangle. On the far left is a smooth and steep ice wall, which is over 100 meters high.

To the right, the thickness of the ice cubes keeps decreasing, and to the far right, the surface of the ice cubes is only one or two meters above the sea.

"How could this be ice floe? It's almost like an iceberg. To be precise, this should be a glacier." Xiang Yang shook his head immediately.

The journey of mankind to search for the Antarctic continent can be described as extremely bumpy.

In the 18th century, explorers went south one after another to find the legendary southern continent.

In 1772, Captain Cook of the United Kingdom sailed 97,000 kilometers for three years and eight months, and sailed around the Antarctic circle. He entered the Antarctic Circle several times but missed the Antarctic continent.

In 1819, Tsar Palinsko led the Vostok and Mir to the Antarctic Circle for two years and 21 days, and discovered the first Antarctic island.

In February 1823, British Wilder went south to 74 degrees south latitude, creating the highest latitude at that time.

It was not until the nineteenth century that Amundsen of Norway was the first to set foot on the South Pole.

When it comes to Amundsen, one person has to be mentioned, and that is Captain Robert.

Although Captain Robert arrived at the South Pole 34 days later than Amundsen, he is recognized by all navigators in the world as the greatest Antarctic explorer, and is even considered the Antarctic pioneer of mankind.

These explorers opened the door to Antarctica for mankind, and also sent mankind the huge treasure of Antarctica.

First of all, not to mention anything else, the mineral resources in Antarctica alone are enough to drive any country in the world crazy, although those mineral resources are extremely difficult to mine.

According to the distribution of identified resources, Antarctica has the largest reserves of coal, iron and oil in the world, and other mineral resources are still in the process of exploration.

In the Antarctic region, more and richer mineral resources may be discovered, providing a scientific basis for human beings to utilize these resources.

The Antarctic continent's Permian coal seam is mainly distributed under the ice sheet of Antarctica, with reserves of about 500 billion tons.

In addition, iron ore is also one of the richest mineral resources in Antarctica.

Iron ore is mainly distributed in East Antarctica.

According to the survey of scientists, in the southern part of the Prince Charles Mountains, from the Late Archaean to the Proterozoic, there is a strip-shaped magnetite-rich rock formation with a thickness of 400 meters, a length of 120-180 kilometers, and a width of 5-10 kilometers. , with an average ore grade of 32%-58%. It is an iron-rich deposit with industrial mining value. It is preliminarily estimated that its reserves can be developed and utilized by the world for 200 years. It is the largest iron-rich deposit in the world today.

What's even more crazy is that if you go northward along the longitude range where the Prince Charles Mountains in Antarctica are located, you will find another world-class iron ore region in the Arctic region, which is almost symmetrical with the same longitude.

Many people envy places like Dubai and Saudi Arabia, because they have abundant oil resources, and even if they do nothing, they can earn a lot of platinum just by selling oil.

In fact, Antarctica is also very rich in oil reserves.

After on-the-spot surveys and long-term scientific research, geologists have discovered that the oil reserves in the Antarctic region are about 50-100 billion barrels, and the natural gas reserves have reached an astonishing 30,000-5 trillion cubic meters.

In Antarctica, the Ross Sea, Weddell Sea, and Bellingshausen Sea, as well as the Antarctic continental shelf, are major producers of oil fields and natural gas.

In the past, due to the huge area of ​​Antarctica, the thousands of meters thick ice sheet and the harsh natural environment restricted the investigation of scientists, human beings did not know much about the mineral resources in Antarctica and its shelf area, but through decades of uninterrupted work , Antarctic minerals gradually unraveled the mystery in front of human beings.

At present, my country alone has discovered more than 100 deposits and deposits in Antarctica.

Of course, at present, the distribution map of these mineral resources can only be kept silently in my heart, and development is not allowed.

First, the geological survey and mineral resource development of the Antarctic continent and its shelf are quite difficult.

Second, human beings are worried about the environmental and ecological damage and pollution that may be caused by the development of mineral resources.

But with the dwindling and depleting mineral resources available on other continents, sooner or later humans will look to the ocean, Antarctica or elsewhere.

As for the possible environmental and ecological damage and pollution caused by the development of mineral resources, Xiang Yang believes that a proper solution can be found through scientific and technological progress.

Of course, this requires a very long process. At least for now, these precious mineral resources, including Xiang Yang, can only be seen.

"Captain, are we going to visit that glacier?" Fang Youqun asked.