The Living Seas
The ocean covers three quarters of the earth's surface, produces 90 percentof allits life-supporting oxygen, and is the driving force behind the entireweather system. There are over 450 million cubic miles of sea water on theearth; and each cubic mile contains over 150 million tons of minerals.
So vast and so pervasive is the sea that if the earth's crust were made level,ocean water would form a blanket over 8,000 feet deep.
The oceans contribute immeasurably to the earth's life support system aswell as provide an untapped storehouse of food, minerals, energy, and ar-chaeological treasureAdvanced atmospheric diving suits permit researchers to descend to depthsof l,500 feet. Yet the ocean's average depth is greater than 12,000 feet. It is atthese depths that remarkable discoveries are being made, discoveries whichonly a short time ago would have been impossible.
In that depth, where darkness is absolute and pressure exceeds eight tons persquare inch, robotic submersibles have discovered enormous gorges, fourtimes deeper than the Grand Canyon Here, too, are volcanoes that vastlyoutnumber those on land. Landslides the size of Rhode Island have beenrecorded, as well as raging undersea storms that go completely unnoticed oitthe surface while dramatically rearranging the underwater landscapes.
And under these seas the largest single geological feature on earth hasbeen found-a mountain range that dwarfs the Himalayas. It's a range thatcovers nearly one quarter of the earth's surface.
All these discoveries have come from the exploration ofless than one-tenthof this undersea mountain range.
The earth is the only planet we know that has an ocean. The ocean is tlielargest feature on earth. Yet it's the one feature we know the least about. Weknow more about the moon 240,000 miles away than we know about thethree-fourths of the earth covered with water. Man has set foot on the moon,but not on the most remote part of the earth, 35,000 feet under the sea.
Technology is changing all that. It's literally parting the waves for today'sundersea explorers. And it's bringing about the opportunity to transformvision, curiosity and wonder into practical knowledge.
Properly managed as a tool to serve society, technology is the best hopefor overcoming economic and social problems facing people everywhere. Italways has been. The earliest relics of human life are tools. And our ancientancestors used these tools to understand and change the world around themand make it better. The same is true today.
The deep sea is the last frontier left to explore.
富有生命的海洋
海洋占地球表面四分之三。地球上维持生命的氧气，90%产生于海洋，整个天气体系变化的动力也是海洋。地球上的海水超过4亿5千万立方英里，每立方英里含有的矿物超过1亿5千万吨。
海洋如此广大浩翰，如此分布辽阔，地球表层如果使之平整起来，那么海水可以形成深8，000多英尺的覆盖层。
海洋对地球上的维持生命系统做出了不可估量的贡献，同时又是一座尚未打开的宝库，储有食物、矿物、能源和具有很大考古价值的东西。
先进的常压潜水衣可以使研究人员下沉到1，500英尺的深度。但海洋的平均深度超过12，000英尺。现在正是在这个深度才发现了惊人的情况，这些发现在不久以前是不可能办到的。
这个深度的海中完全是漆黑一片，每平方英寸的压力超过8吨，潜水机器人在这里发现了巨大的峡谷，比美国科罗拉多大峡谷深3倍。这里火山之多，大大超过陆地上的火山，也曾有过规模大到和罗得岛一样的山崩，还有猛烈的海底风暴，这种风暴在海面上一点也觉察不到，却剧烈地改变着水下的景观。 ，就在这些海洋中发现了地球上惟一的地质构成——一条使喜马拉雅相形见绌的大山脉，这条山脉覆盖了地球表面几乎四分之一。
上述那些发现都是来自探索这条水下山脉不到十分之一的地区所见到的。
地球是我们所知有海洋存在的行星。海洋是地球构成的部分，而正是这部分我们知道得最少，这一覆盖地球四分之三的水域我们所知的情况还不如我们对远离地球24万英里的月球所知道的多。
人类已涉足月球，但对海面以下3万5千英尺地球最深邃的地方却从未涉足过。
技术正在改变这一切，它正在劈波斩浪为今日的水下探索者开路。它正在创造机会使幻想、求知欲和高深莫测的事情转化成实实在在的知识。
把技术当作服务于社会的工具适当地加以掌握，它就是克服各地人民所面临的经济与社会问题的希望所在。技术历来都是如此。
人类生活的最早遗物就是工具。我们远古的祖先使用那些工具来认识世界改造、世界使之日趋完善。今天的情况也还是如此。
深海是尚待探索的最后一个领域。
