Geography. Козлова Е.П. - 87 стр.

      Of course, this catastrophe made the waters of the World Ocean rush as a
gigantic wave into the lowland regions of America and Europe, drowning the
hypothetical Atlantica and tearing through Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. All
this is mentioned in the works of the ancient Greek chronicler Plato. Perhaps this was
the basis for the biblical legend of the “world flood”.
      Some scientists think that in the past the geographical and magnetic poles
coincided, but nowadays they do not because they have moved many hundreds of
kilometres apart. But what if it is just that the magnetic axis has not yet caught up
with the geographic axis, being closer as yet to their precatastrophic direction?
      The Polish scientist even indicated the landing site of the supposed planetoid,
which had landed such a hook on the Earth, as boxers would say. He considered this
site to be not far from the Bahama Islands. A daring, almost fantastic conclusion,
isn’t it?

                           17.3 Gold mines under the sea

      Man is only just beginning to realize how much he must look to the sea. When
we got to the bottom of the sea, we find things that no one dreamed existed until
recently. Lands which were covered with water when the ice melted at the end of the
Ice Age are rich in minerals. Off the South African coast, for example, is a place
where there are five times the number of diamonds as in the mines on the land. One
of these diamond mines on the sea of the bottom is near the mouth of the Orange
River. Oil is brought from the bottom of the Caspian Sea near Baku. Sand with gold
in it has been found off the Alaskan coast near Nome, and tin is mined off Thailand
and Indonesia. But if man wants to continue gathering riches from the sea he is going
to have to look after it. The effects of radio-activity, and even of household
detergents are harmful to the creatures that live in the sea and can be harmful to the
people who eat them. One recent discovery shows that there is now ten times more
lead in the upper levels of the sea than there was forty years ago because lead from
the high-octane petrol used in motor-cars goes into the atmosphere.

                            17.4 Getting into Deep Water

      The dark depths of the Gulf of Mexico, once frequented by only the sea
creatures, are now alive with human activity. Miniature submarines and robot-like
vehicles move around the ocean bottom while divers make their way around
incredible underwater structures-taller than New York City skyscrapers but almost
totally beneath the surface of the waves. Modern-day explorers are using technology
worth of Jules Verne and Jakques Cousteau to find fresh supplies of oil and natural
gas.Until recently, drilling in the Gulf was concentrated close to shore in water as
deep as 9 km. But now the scientists are looking to hundreds of meters deep and 160
kilometres and more from land. The deep water research began in 1984. Since many
American companies have built the world’s deepest production platforms of more
than 100 stories high.
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