We have a population of 1.4 billion, and although the territory is not small, it is still very densely populated because of the large mountainous and uninhabitable areas.
So some people have a big brain, suppose that the ocean and land on the earth suddenly turn upside down one day, that is, the continent becomes the ocean, and the ocean becomes the land, then the land on the earth will suddenly change from less than 30% to more than 70%.
At that time, not everyone could enjoy the spacious life of the villa with a garden. It's a wonderful idea, but what happens when the assumptions become reality? Let's take a look at the "assumptions" one by one.
Basic conditions on land and sea
Let's take a look at the area of the earth first, the total is 510 million square kilometers, which is indeed a lot, but it is because the ocean area is as high as 361 million square kilometers that the remaining 149 million square kilometers of continents seem very narrow.
Assuming that the sea and land are suddenly swapped, it is necessary to ensure that the water in the ocean can swap places. Some people think that the water is a nuisance, and it is okay to just let it disappear. Note that if the water in the ocean disappears instead of swapping places, then humans should not think about swapping, and just wait for death without this water.
In this way, it means that the height of the original land will become deep, for example, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is more than 5,000 meters above sea level, and after it is transformed into the ocean, it will become a giant crater with a depth of 5,000 meters.
In the same way, in order for the ocean to become land, its depth must be raised to land. At that time, the Mariana Trench, which is more than 10,000 meters deep, will become the highest mountain in the new world.
Similarly, if the average depth of the world's oceans is currently 3,957 meters, then after swapping positions, the land will sink into a lowland according to its original height on a horizontal basis, and the ocean will be raised to become a new continent on the basis of the average depth. At that time, Asia will become the Asian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean will become the Taiping Continent.
You may seem excited, after all, a whole new continent is about to appear. But when you look at the appearance of the New World, you will feel strange, how can it be said that the endless land is all flat, and there are mountains just like the original continent?
Many people may think that the bottom of the ocean is flat, but in fact, the topography of the seabed is exactly the same as the structure of the continent. There are mountains, valleys, and of course endless plains.
Take the Pacific Ocean as an example, there are ridges and ridges on the bottom of the sea, and those islands that are exposed to the surface of the water are actually high mountains hidden under the water.
Therefore, when the Pacific Ocean became Taipingzhou, as the original seabed strata were raised, the flat areas became plains, and some places were still mountains and valleys.
Of course, the topography is not the most important thing, but the important thing is that after the sea and land swap places, the climate is the first thing that changes due to the change in the area of water and ocean currents.
After the sea and land swap places
Let's talk about the current appearance of the earth, the water in the ocean is evaporated by the sun, and gradually forms ocean currents and even climate change. The ocean and the atmosphere are interactive, and atmospheric movements form a state of circulation, which constitutes climate change around the world. Wherever it rains, where it shines, where there are typhoons, it all has to do with the ocean.
If the continents and oceans swap places, the oceans will continue to change and act, but the atmospheric climate will also change due to new changes in the water area and land structure.
The most immediate change is that when the Pacific Ocean becomes Taipingzhou, the hinterland of the interior will not become full of life, but will gradually become a desert under the sun.
Because the land area is too large, the moist warm and moist air currents cannot penetrate deep into the hinterland of the continent, which means that the latter is located in an area where no rain falls.
In fact, just like the continent today, like the Eurasian continent, the deeper you go inland, the more intense the continental climate becomes, the rainfall is scarce, and the deserts are also distributed in these areas.
In addition to the large land area, areas where warm and humid air currents cannot enter will become deserts, and those areas that are blocked by high mountains will not be able to cross over by warm and humid air currents, so these areas will also become continental climates and gradually form deserts.
In other words, although the area of land seems to have increased after the land and sea swap places, the area is so large that many places have become barren deserts, and after removing the mountains and valleys, the places suitable for human habitation and survival are actually limited.
In addition to changes in air currents and climate, it is unknown whether the exchange of land and sea positions will cause changes in the earth's magnetic field. It is also unknown whether the position of the Earth's north and south poles will change and move.
Therefore, there is a high probability that when the sea and land positions are exchanged, it seems that only the terrain structure has changed, but the earth's climate and environment will become chaotic due to the sudden change.
The original change of seasons is definitely gone, and it may snow in the summer and typhoons in the winter. How long will it take for this climate chaos to stabilize, and how long will it take for humans to adapt to the new climate?
And in the process, whether the chaotic climate will cause the extinction of plants and animals is also unknown. Perhaps some people will die in extreme climates, or all humans will become extinct, and it is possible that a very small number of people will adapt to the new climate and survive.
These have happened in the long history of the earth. Before the existence of human beings, the animals and plants on the earth were extinct or upgraded in countless iterations due to the continuous changes in the earth's sea and land structure.
It's just that the changes in the sea and land on the earth do not happen suddenly, but slowly change over tens or even hundreds of millions of years. In other words, the shape and structure of the land and sea that we see today are not static, and have changed more than once in billions of years of history.
Changes in the oceans and land over history
What is certain is that the age in which the dinosaurs lived was completely different from the appearance of the earth today.
In the Permian period, the land on Earth at that time was basically merged together, known as Pangea, and this ancient continent was surrounded by oceans.
Due to the large size of this landmass, the hinterland of the continent is arid, and deserts are quite widespread on this ancient continent. After more than 100 million years of changes, Pangea gradually split into two continents.
By the time of the dinosaurs, the continents of the Earth were still split into two parts, and there was no land near the South and North Poles. The region where Europe is now located is still submerged under the sea.
Time continues to move forward to about 145 million years ago, when the early continent of Pangea continued to divide and the number of fragments increased. Over the course of the next long period, some places became oceans, and some places gradually uplifted into high mountains due to orogeny.
When the time came to 66 million years ago, another crop of animals and plants in ancient times was extinct and extinct due to changes, and the death of death. The structure of the Earth's sea routes has changed again compared to tens of millions of years ago.
At this time, the earth's land and sea structure has basically become what we see now. This period is geologically Cenozoic. Judging from the timeline, human civilization is still in the new generation.
The Cenozoic is also geologically subdivided into different periods, in which the positions of the sea and land are still changing. About 11,700 years ago, the Earth's land and sea structure finally became what we see now.
So if you look back at the changes in the earth's land and sea, you will find that the positions of the continents and oceans have changed for more than 100 million years.
But even though the pace of change is so slow, the flora and fauna on Earth have changed dramatically at different times, and some have become extinct in the slow change.
The main cause of extinction is the change in climate caused by land and sea. In a new climate, the original plants and animals are unable to adapt to the changes and will become extinct.
Therefore, if the current positions of the earth and the ocean are suddenly reversed, the immediate climate change will most likely kill us very quickly.
So no matter what, all living things on Earth, including humans, are always products of the environment. That is to say, organisms can only constantly adapt to this environment, not the environment changes because of the existence of organisms.
If you can't adapt, I'm sorry, you can only exterminate. Next, as long as there is water, land, and climate, there will be new organisms that can adapt to the environment.
In this case, we cannot evaluate and define the earth from a human perspective and a sense of time. After all, compared with the changes of the earth, the time of human existence is still quite short, especially after the emergence of civilization.
What kind of changes will exist on the earth in the future, and which animals and plants will become extinct, and the emergence of new animals and plants, we don't count, only the ultimate boss of the earth has the final say.
And in this constant change, water will always play a crucial role.
Where does the water on Earth come from
The surface of the other planets in the solar system is barren, and only the surface of the Earth is present with large amounts of liquid water. It is precisely because of the presence of water, the movement of geological tectonics, the formation and change of climate, and then the right opportunity for the evolution of life.
Because of this, from the perspective of human beings themselves, we now search the universe, and every time we find a new planet, the first thing we pay attention to is whether there is water on it. If there is water, it means that there may be life forms similar to those on Earth.
So the question is, how does the earth have such a critical water?
There are two theories, one is that most of the Earth's water comes from within. In the process of the evolution of the earth, there is an abundance of water in it.
Through geological movements, such as volcanic eruptions, water from within the earth is constantly pouring to the surface. At the same time, from some places where the earth's crust is weak, the water inside is constantly seeping to the surface.
According to scientists' estimates, 50% of the water gushing out of volcanic eruptions alone has historically accounted for the total amount of water in the sea today.
There is also an opinion that the water on Earth comes from outer space. For example, the collision of meteorites, comets and other stars, if these stars contain water, will send water to the earth's surface.
The study found that some of these meteorites that collided with the Earth had a water content of more than 10%. However, some people think that this view is unreliable, there is so much water on the earth now, how many impacts must be suffered in history before it can accumulate into the sea.
So there is another external view that it is the solar wind that carries the water to the earth. The solar wind is a solar magnetic storm, and every time it occurs, it will send elements such as hydrogen nuclei, carbon nuclei, and oxygen nuclei into the earth's atmosphere.
It then combines with electrons in the atmosphere to become oxygen atoms, carbon atoms, and hydrogen atoms, and when these substances are present, water molecules are formed. Eventually, in the form of rain, it came to the surface of the earth.
This view cannot be said to be wrong, but like meteorite carrying, the number of bursts of the solar wind is limited, and the amount of water brought by it is quite limited.
Therefore, the current mainstream view is that most of the water on the earth is brought by the earth at the beginning of its birth.
epilogue
Regardless of how water forms on Earth, the role it plays is crucial to the formation of life. And for billions of years, it is precisely because of the changing positions of these waters and land that the planet has become colorful.
Going back to the brain hole at the beginning of the article, the positions of the sea and the land are reversed, which on the surface is a change in the structure of the earth, but in essence, it is to displace the water on the surface. The history of the earth is a history of the displacement of water, and it is precisely because of the displacement that life continues to evolve and iterate.
Therefore, to make this water suddenly shift now, it can only be said that the life on the earth is a little impatient.
Resources:
"Plate Movement and a Habitable Earth" Global Magazine, March 17, 2023
"Where Does the Water on Earth Come From Which Statement Is More Reliable?", China Meteorological News, September 18, 2015