O cean R esources 20.3
Jan 03, 2016
…methods to get
Fresh Waterout of ocean water
•Desalination–Distillation–Reverse Osmosis
•Freezing•…we get 13 million liters DAILY
from the ocean!
Distillation• Boil sea water to
vapor (H2, O2)
• Condense the vapor to pure H2O
• Requires lots of energy
Freezing• Freeze sea water to -
2oC• Salt is pushed out of
the ice crystals as they form-
• Melt ice to get pure H2O
• One-sixth the energy cost of distillation
Reverse Osmosis• Pump sea water
through filters (membranes) that block salt, but allow H2O molecules through.
• The newest & best technology available.
Filtering System• Different layers of the
filter• The first filter gets
the largest objects out of the water
• The last filter layer called the membrane rejects the salt
Mineral Resources• Nodules of Mn, Fe,
Cu, Ni, Co, & phosphates form on the abyssal plain (grow 1 mm every million years!)
• ALSO - we mine salt, bromine, & magnesium...
…but the “big daddy” is PETROLEUM!
• Oil, that is…• Black gold,Texas
tea…• 25% of world oil
supply comes from offshore drilling on the continental shelves.
AQUACULTURE• The farming of the ocean• 1/2 billion people world-wide
suffer from lack of protein• Ocean farms can produce much
more protein-rich food per acre than land farms
• Problems: pollution…