For ocean areas, there are countless islands, large and small. However, since islands are concentrated in the ocean, resources are indispensable if you want to survive on an island. Among them, there is a very unique island located in the South China Sea region of my country, which is Yongshu Island.
Fiery Cross Reef and its islands are located in the middle of the Nansha Islands. It can be said that this area was originally described as a "reef". However, later, our country carried out sand blowing and reclamation operations on the southwest reef of Fiery Cross Reef and established artificial island . After that, the area of permanent land in this area reached 2.8 square kilometers. However, please note that the main reef is the southwest reef, covering an area of 4.33 square kilometers.
After the construction of Yongshu Island, our country also built Yongshu Island Airport , Yongshu Hospital, etc. The area has become a perfect infrastructure area, and people are living on it.
So, this area is already a very "complete" area. However, for Yongshu Island, many people feel very strange about the "water" used by people living on the island. It can be said to be more precious than oil. That is, Yongshu Island is surrounded by sea, how can there be freshwater?
And what can be directly explained here is that it is not transported by land. Let everyone stop this "thinking" first. It was not transported there. This seems a bit unscientific. We can also see from the satellite image that there is sea water on all sides. How can there be fresh water? It really does exist. Let’s learn about it step by step.
The changing process of Yongshu Island
As we said above, the island is built on the basis of reefs. Our country has implemented a reclamation and island building project in this area since 2014. Therefore, artificial islands appeared.
Fiery Cross Reef is mainly in the shape of an "oblong" shape and is mainly divided into two plots, one in the southwest and one in the northeast. Yongshu Island is the abbreviation of "Yongshu Reef Southwest Island". Simply put, it is an artificial island on the southwest reef of Yongshu Reef.
The entire Fiery Cross Reef is 26 kilometers long, about 7.8 kilometers wide, and covers an area of 108 square kilometers. The area of this area is more than twice that of Mischief Reef. Of course, it is much larger than other islands, such as: Gemini Reefs , Zhongye Reefs , Daoming Reefs , etc. They are all incomparable, and the areas are not of the same grade.
The geographical conditions of the entire area are also very unique. The shape of the shallow lake is not obvious, and the water depth is 14.6-40 meters, which means it can be both deep and shallow. At high tide, the reef is below 0.5 to 1 meter of water depth. At low tide, only a few rocks are exposed. The reef of Yongshu Reef runs northeast to southwest, about 22 kilometers long and 7 kilometers wide.
Therefore, when the original Fiery Cross Reef was at high tide, only a small reef was exposed out of the water. During the reclamation, this reef remained unfilled. On the other side of the small harbor of the old reef, this is Fiery Cross Island or a part of Fiery Cross Reef. basic situation. Seeing this situation makes people even more disbelieving that there is fresh water, so let’s continue reading.
What is the significance of the construction of Yongshu Island?
The construction of Yongshu Island can be said to be of great significance. This area is the "hub center" of international waterways. Therefore, our country has also built the "Nansha Fiery Cross Reef Observation Station" in this area to provide important marine meteorological data, which is of outstanding value to international shipping. At the same time, the lighthouse established is also very useful to international shipping.
In addition to these international assistance, the island also plays an important role for our country itself, because the area is very rich in resources and is also our country's main fish production center. After the island is built, if there are typhoons, waves and other weather conditions Conditions can also provide a "safe haven" for fishermen.
The fish in Fiery Cross Reef belong to the Indian Ocean -Pacific tropical fauna, of which coral reef fish and tropical oceanic fish account for the vast majority, accounting for about 90% of the total species. They are my country's marine fish fauna. important parts of.
also contains 364 species worldwide, accounting for 68% of the total number of fish.Therefore, it is very good for our country to develop fisheries in this area.
In addition to water resources, the region also has a large number of mineral resources, including iron, manganese, copper, nickel, cobalt, lead, zinc and dozens of other metal elements. When our country needs these mineral resources in the future , it can also provide a certain mining foundation. This is the benefit. The significance of construction is that we have laid out the plan in advance. Of course, there are other strategic implications, which we will not explain here.
Yongshu Island is surrounded by sea water. How can there be fresh water that is more precious than oil?
Indeed, it is a fact that fresh water was found on Yongshu Island. It is indeed more precious than oil. The island is about 740 nautical miles away from mainland China and 560 nautical miles away from Yulin Port on Hainan Island. If humans rely on ships to transport fresh water every day, it will be a huge project and it will not be able to satisfy the people living on it. .
This discovery was made by researchers from the Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea and Ocean Geology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It can be regarded as "the best gift God has provided to our people." The emergence of fresh water is really great.
How did this fresh water, which is more precious than oil, come from? In fact, it is an "evolution" process, and the research results were also published in the "Journal of Hydrology".
Through an analysis of Yongshu Island, the study found that the formation of underground freshwater lenses on the islands and reefs can be divided into three stages, but the pattern of "freshwater lenses" was formed, and finally fresh water was formed.
First, Under the changes of natural factors, the " coral sand " filtering phenomenon has appeared in the island area, which will have a certain "salinization" effect on seawater, thus providing a certain basis for the formation of fresh water.
Second, after natural rainfall occurs in the island area, with the continuous infiltration and replenishment of atmospheric rainfall, the underground freshwater lens pattern of the island and reef is formed, and the thickness gradually increases. This stage can be called the formation stage, and its required Time depends primarily on the rate at which freshwater lenses form.
Third, the stage where fresh water stabilizes appears, that is, through the stable fresh water lens pattern, when the lens thickness no longer increases significantly, it will fluctuate periodically with changes in tides and rainfall. This will form a "complete filtration" of fresh water, which will form usable fresh water.
That is, the internal flow velocity of the freshwater lens is relatively large and points from the center of the island to the edge, constantly pushing the salt water that enters due to dispersion outward to maintain the creation and existence of the freshwater lens.
The other is a short-time-scale dynamic feature, mainly generated by tides, which causes vertical oscillations of freshwater lenses and intensifies the dispersion between salty and freshwater. This is the formation process of freshwater.
Of course, this is also a rather magical thing. It naturally provides a water source foundation for Yongshu Island. Therefore, people on Yongshu Island are not short of water and do not need to transport water from the mainland. Its value is really too great.
Of course, if our country opens Yongshu Island in the future, because there is an airport on it, everyone can also witness the scenery of our island, and our country is also accelerating the construction of the island.
For example: In 2020, our country has achieved network coverage in marine areas such as Yongshu Island, Yongxing Island , and already has 5G signals, so it is very good.
