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英语散文：
The Living
Seas(
富有生命的海洋
)
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