"At present, Shanghai already has a science and technology museum, a natural museum, and a planetarium, but there is still a 'deep-sea museum'. The Deep Sea Museum, not the Oceanographic Museum, currently there is no real deep sea museum in the world. If built, it would be the world's first deep-sea museum. Recently, Wang Pinxian, an 85-year-old academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor at the School of Oceanography and Earth Sciences of Tongji University, suggested to the relevant departments that he hoped to build a "unique" deep-sea museum in Lingang, echoing the Shanghai Planetarium, corresponding to the two frontiers of space and deep-sea exploration, and building a scientific and cultural highland where "nine days to catch the moon" and "catch turtles in the five oceans" shine together.
[Although there is no sunlight, there is still a "deep sea garden"]
With the development of deep-sea exploration technology, the era of deep-sea deep-sea understanding is coming. 500 years ago, leonardo da Vinci designed the wetsuit, and 150 years ago Verne wrote Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, the science fiction of that time is now becoming a reality.
From a scientific point of view, exploring the deep sea can help human beings to understand the mysteries of the ocean and the mysteries of the earth. The deep sea, which is more than 2,000 meters deep, occupies 3/5 of the earth's surface, and it is traced back to the depths of the sea, regardless of the fate of greenhouse gas emissions or the source of long-term climate change. Not only that, but the seafloor is the closest place to the Earth's interior: the continental crust is on average 35 km thick, and the oceanic crust is 7 km thick. Revealing the laws of plate movement, peeking into the truth of the Earth's interior, and exploring at the bottom of the deep ocean.
In the past few decades, why has the West, which has the advantages of deep-sea technology, not appeared in deep-sea museums? Wang Pinxian believes that the dislocation of time is an important reason - the climax of the construction of museums in European and American countries was in the 19th century, although in recent years, some new museums have been built around the world, which not only have displays, but also interactive links, but deep-sea high-tech is not the focus, because deep-sea exploration began to develop in the late twentieth century.
"A deep-sea museum in the true sense of the word, the world doesn't have it yet."
Now the marine museum, in fact, divided into two categories, one is the aquarium, also called the ocean world, most of which display marine animals, attracting the audience are shark cruising, dolphin performance, these are actually the upper ocean animals, belongs to the underwater world with sunlight within one or two hundred meters underwater. There is also a type of maritime museum that is actually a "nautical museum", which presents more maritime history, nautical technology, nautical vessels and so on.
The true deep sea is much wider, and two-thirds of the Earth's surface is the deep sea. There, where the sun cannot shine, is an eternal "dark world".
"It's a 'mysterious' world." Wang Pinxian said that although there is no sunlight, there are actually "trees in the deep sea", and there are also "birds and beasts returning to the forest". The "trees" in these dark worlds are deep-sea corals, and the animals that "return to the forest" are various cephalopods and fish.
Image source: Xinhua News Agency Zhang Jiansong Tongji University Jiang Ping
Even more mysterious is the world beneath the seabed. How do deep-sea corals live in high-pressure dark environments? In the reduction environment of hot liquid mouth and cold spring mouth, why are there piles of mussels and crabs? What are the microorganisms in the basalt below the seafloor? Why do they even dormant for hundreds of thousands of years, neither alive nor dead? Why does the sea water flow at a depth of several kilometers? 85% of the world's volcanoes are submarine volcanoes, will these volcanoes erupt? Why is the world's largest mountain, the deepest ditch, at the bottom of the deep sea... These "mysterious underwater worlds" that most of us are unaware of can be displayed. According to the development status of modern marine science and technology, Wang Pinxian envisions that the Deep Sea Museum will simulate the "dark world" of the deep seabed from the perspective of marine science, and systematically introduce the source of the ocean, plate movement, the earth's interior, seabed biology, energy and minerals, deep-sea carbon pools, deep-sea disasters and so on.
It is a pity that the research results of some scientists in the deep sea are "scattered" in major research institutes around the world, and there is no platform in the world to "string" them into pearl necklaces and display them in a centralized manner.
Partial picture of a deep dive observation. Courtesy of respondents
"Looking at the world, Shanghai is one of the international metropolises with the fastest cultural progress today." In Wang Pinxian's view, the construction of the deep-sea pavilion in Shanghai has unique strength and advantages, "the center of China's deep-sea science and technology is in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta, which provides academic and technical support for the construction of the deep-sea pavilion." Looking at the Yangtze River Delta, there is not only the 702nd Research Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, which has developed the "Jiaolong" manned deep submersible, but also the State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, located in Tongji University, which presides over China's deep drilling and deep network engineering, and the China Polar Center for exploring bipolar oceans.
"After the completion of the Deep Sea Museum, together with the Science and Technology Museum, the Natural Museum and the Planetarium, Shanghai will become a unique scientific and cultural highland with four complete halls in the world, and the 'Oriental Pearl' will be lit up in the world's scientific community, looking forward to the future development of human society."
【Showcasing the most cutting-edge deep-sea technology】
"In addition to the marvelous world of the deep, the Museum of the Deep will also showcase the most cutting-edge and scientifically challenging 'deep-sea technologies.'" Wang Pin said first.
Deep diving, deep drilling and deep network are the three major means to explore the mysteries of the deep sea today, namely deep diving scientific investigation, international ocean drilling and the construction of national seabed scientific observation networks. Deep diving is intuitive deep-sea exploration, but there are limitations in both space and time. The deepest dive can only go to the seabed, from the bottom of the sea to rely on drilling, this is deep drilling; the running time of deep diving can only be measured in hours, and if you want long-term continuous observation, you have to put the sensor on the seabed and network observation, which is the deep network. Deep diving, deep drilling and deep nets jointly take on the technical responsibility of deep-sea exploration.
Cold water coral forest. Courtesy of respondents
Deep diving is the tip of deep-sea exploration.
In the late 20th century, while overcoming gravity to enter space, humans also resisted the pressure of the water column and entered the deep water seabed. After the test of the diving bell and the diving ball, in 1960, the "Riast" deep submersible dived to the bottom of the Sea at a depth of 10,916 meters in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, sending the two people to the deepest part of the earth's surface for the first time. In the 1980s, the United States, France, the Soviet Union, and Japan built manned deep submersibles, which can dive up to 6500 meters.
China's deep-sea science and technology started late but developed rapidly. In 2012, the "Jiaolong" manned deep submersible dived to 7062 meters, setting a record for the maximum diving depth of similar submersibles in the world. In 2017, the 4500-meter "Deep Sea Warrior" manned deep submersible was officially put into use, and the domestic autonomy rate exceeded 95%. It is through manned deep diving that China has discovered patches of polymetallic nodules, paleothermal hydrothermal zones and cold-water coral forests on seamounts in the South China Sea, and explored metal sulphide ore sites in the southwest Indian Ocean. In 2018, Wang Pinxian took the "Deep Sea Warrior" manned deep submersible at the age of 82 and dived down to a depth of 1400 meters in the South China Sea, witnessing the "deep sea garden" composed of corals and the biome formed around hot liquid and cold springs, and he used "Alice in Wonderland" to describe his joy and happiness.
On May 21, 2018, Wang Pinxian, an 82-year-old academician of Tongji University, a well-known marine geologist in China, the leader of the expert group of the "South China Sea Deep Plan", took the 4500-meter manned deep submersible "Deep Sea Warrior" independently developed by China to dive for the third time in the South China Sea. This is Academician Wang Pinxian (right) walking across the covered bridge to board the "Deep Sea Warrior" manned capsule. Photo by Zhang Jiansong, Xinhua News Agency
The seabed observation network is equivalent to the establishment of "weather stations" and "laboratories" on the seabed, which greatly improves the ocean observation capabilities and marks the establishment of a new generation of marine science. In terms of application, the submarine observation network is the most effective means of early warning earthquakes and tsunamis. "85% of the world's volcanoes are on the seabed, and the installation of submarine devices can monitor volcanic eruptions in real time, and may be able to 'live broadcast' submarine volcanic eruptions in the future."
What is even more unimaginable is that the deep sea is still the closest part of the earth. What exactly is the core of the Earth? "Now, Ocean Drilling is trying to penetrate the crust and show people what the mantle is like... These deep-sea technologies and deep-sea worlds will be what the Deep-Sea Museum may present to you in the future. Wang Pin said first.
Academician Wang Pinxian walks out of the manned cabin of the "Deep Sea Warrior" (photographed on May 21, 2018). Xinhua News Agency Zhang Jiansong Photography
"In June next year, we will plan to hold a three-month temporary exhibition at the Museum of Natural History with the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, featuring the "Deep Sea Garden" with the theme of sea corals, hydrothermal fluids and cold springs, as a way to explore the planning of the Deep Sea Museum. Wang Pinxian said that at that time, 3D printing and other methods will be used to imitate deep-sea corals, and the scenes and creatures explored in the deep sea will be partially displayed.
"In the future, the Deep Sea Museum will use virtual reality technology to let more people experience this magic in the Deep Sea Museum and arouse everyone's interest in the deep sea." Wang Pinxian believes that the shock this brings to people is definitely no less than the magic brought by the vast universe, planet, space station, etc. displayed by the planetarium.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Xu Ruizhe Text Editor: Li Lei Title Image Source: Xinhua News Agency Pictures
Source: Author: Lei Li