Strengthening marine geological exploration and protecting marine ecological environment

(China Institute of Land and Resources Economics, Beijing, 10 1 149)

Marine resources are important space and strategic resources for human survival and development. The ocean accounts for more than 2/3 of the earth's area and is rich in space resources, biological resources, mineral resources and hydrodynamic resources. It is a valuable wealth for the sustainable development of human society, and it is also one of the important targets for geologists' exploration, research and development. Marine geological work adopts comprehensive means of geology and geophysics, and collects geological information including seabed topography and seabed geological structure, providing reliable reference materials for marine geological research, seabed mineral resources investigation, marine environmental disaster research and marine engineering construction. It is an important and urgent task to strengthen marine geological exploration and protect marine ecological environment.

I. Analysis of the situation and background of strengthening marine geological work

In the late 20th century, marine geological work in industrial countries shifted from "resource consumption" to "ecological protection", and various countries paid more attention to the sustainable and balanced development of society. With the continuous development of economic globalization, marine geological work in China is at a major turning point, shouldering the dual tasks of developing and protecting marine resources. We must pay close attention to the international and domestic situation faced by China's geological work in the new stage and conscientiously implement the national policy of "paying equal attention to resources and environment" formulated by the central government.

China has a vast continental shelf and a vast sea area of about 3 million square kilometers, and there are more than 50 Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary basins with a total area of about 6.5438+0.65 million square kilometers. China's continental shelf area is about1357,000 square kilometers, and the oil-bearing basin in the shelf area is nearly 700,000 square kilometers. Large and medium-sized Cenozoic sedimentary basins 16 have been delineated. China's coastline 18000 km ranks fourth in the world, its continental shelf with a depth of 200 meters is more than 400,000 square kilometers, ranking fifth in the world, and its exclusive economic zone with 200 nautical miles ranks first in the world 10. It is a strategic resource. It is estimated that China's offshore oil resources are about 24 billion tons, natural gas resources are10.4 trillion cubic meters, and coastal placer resources are 3 1 100 million tons. In addition, various chemical elements and marine mineral resources rich in seawater can be utilized. Among the undeveloped marine mineral resources, polymetallic nodules, cobalt-rich crusts and submarine sulfide deposits in the deep seabed are the most striking, and are expected to enter commercial exploitation after the 1920s to replace the increasingly exhausted land resources. Polymetallic nodules are widely distributed in the seabed with a water depth of 4000 ~ 6000 meters. On 1999, China demarcated an exclusive mining area of 75,000 square kilometers in the Pacific Ocean. It is preliminarily estimated that there are 420 million tons of polymetallic nodules, including manganese11750,000 tons, copper 4.06 million tons and nickel 565,438+565,438. Submarine hydrothermal deposits is a remarkable deep-sea resource in recent years, which is distributed in the world ocean with a depth of several hundred meters to 3,500m, mainly concentrated in the mid-ocean ridge and stratum fault active zone with a depth of 2,000m. It is a far-reaching seabed polymetallic mineral resource, and its main elements are copper, zinc, iron and manganese. Silver, gold, cobalt, nickel and platinum have also reached industrial grade in some areas. In addition, China's coastal areas are rich in marine renewable clean energy, with a huge amount of resources, with a total reserve of 630 million kilowatts, of which tidal energy alone reaches 1. 1 100 million kilowatts.

The marine environment in China is not optimistic, and marine disasters have become one of the most serious natural disasters in China. The test results show that in 2004, the area of China sea area that failed to meet the water quality standard of clean sea area increased by 27,000 square kilometers compared with the previous year, and the clean area decreased by 6,543.8+0.4 million square kilometers compared with the previous year. The lightly polluted sea area increased by about 6.5438+0.8 million square kilometers, the moderately polluted sea area increased by about 6.5438+0.6 million square kilometers, and the heavily polluted sea area increased by about 0.7 million square kilometers. As far as coastal areas are concerned, it is particularly fragile due to many factors, among which human activities and their chain reactions are seriously affecting the quality of coastal environment and causing a series of geological disasters. The coastal zone is a place where marine disasters wreak havoc. If the sea level rises slightly, coastal erosion, storm surge, seawater intrusion, land subsidence and other geological disasters will increase greatly. Great changes in both land and sea will cause a series of chain reactions, which will eventually lead to the destruction of the material balance, which is manifested in the abnormal accumulation and corrosion degradation of the coast. Therefore, the ocean plays an irreplaceable role in solving the resources needed for human survival and social development, including biology and minerals. In order to meet the challenges brought by future sea level rise, it is necessary to strengthen the protection of the marine environment. Marine geological research is undoubtedly a field that needs to be strengthened urgently.

At present, all coastal countries in the world regard the rational development of marine resources as the basic national policy for survival and development. Most western developed countries have completed regional surveys and mineral surveys within their own jurisdiction, providing necessary basic information for safeguarding their own interests, resolving maritime delimitation with neighboring countries and planning marine economic development. China's situation of safeguarding national maritime rights and interests is grim, and its maritime boundaries with many countries are unclear. In addition to the reasonable and favorable struggle according to the law, more comprehensive and accurate marine survey data must be obtained. At the same time, with the development of China's marine industry and the increasing efforts of marine development, especially in port construction, oil and gas exploration, submarine engineering, coastal defense construction, maritime shipping, marine fisheries, coastal tourism, environmental protection and other aspects, reliable and high-precision marine regional geological basic data and maps are urgently needed. With the development of national marine development activities in depth and breadth, as well as the approval and implementation of international and domestic laws and regulations on marine development and marine management, the scope of China's national marine jurisdiction has expanded, and the concept of national territory has also changed greatly, and marine development is facing new problems and new situations. It has become the most realistic and urgent task for China's marine work to launch a new round of marine land resources survey as soon as possible and start the national overall plan for marine land development and protection.

At present, our understanding of the ocean is quite superficial, and we know very little about the family background of the marine land. Moreover, a lot of data are also from foreign materials, and there are few independent intellectual property rights. The investigation and exploration degree of marine land is much lower than that of land land, and the environmental conditions and resource conditions need to be investigated in detail. The lack of basic work in the early stage of marine development has caused many inconveniences and insufficient stamina for marine resources development activities. At present, most areas under the jurisdiction of our country lack the measured basic map (1:200,000 ~1:500,000); The length of coastline and the area data of inland water, inland sea, territorial sea, contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone are not allowed; The base point and baseline of the territorial sea lack the necessary scientific demonstration and measured basis; The dynamic changes of the coast can not be summarized in time, and the overall change trend is unknown; The number, area, function and dynamic changes of estuaries and harbors lack scientific and consistent concepts and data; The scope, area and changing law of the main estuary deltas are still unclear. In short, the basic data of marine land is still in a blank state, and the basic investigation and research of marine resources and environment and other basic elements of land economy are far from the social practice of development and utilization, which has caused blindness and irrationality of marine development activities and even caused irreversible changes and destruction of many typical marine ecosystems and ecological regions. We should vigorously develop deep-sea science and technology, formulate a national deep-sea development plan, and meet the demand of China's rapid economic development for mineral resources.

Second, the development status of marine geology in China

According to the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, China has the right and jurisdiction to exercise sovereignty over the vast continental shelf and exclusive economic zone. In the old China, the sea ban policy was implemented, and wars continued and the marine economy was depressed. After the founding of New China, the marine economy began to recover and develop. From 1980 to 1990, China's marine economy grew at an average annual rate of 17%. After 1990s, it developed at an average annual rate of 22%, reaching 327 billion yuan in198, and the marine economy became a new growth point of the national economy. The future marine industry will surely become a pillar industry of the national economy.

With the acceleration of China's marine development, the demand for marine basic geological information is increasingly urgent. 1980, the offshore oil and gas in China was only 90,000 tons of oil and gas equivalent, and by 2000, it had exceeded 20 million tons of oil and gas equivalent, with an average annual growth rate (based on 1995) 17.83%, much higher than the onshore oil and gas production growth rate (0.9% on land). The proportion of offshore crude oil production in the national crude oil production increased from 65,438 0.05% in 0990 to 65,438 0.04% in 2003. The proportion of natural gas increased from 2. 1% in 1995 to 12.8%. It can be seen that the proportion of offshore oil and gas industry is basically increasing year by year, and its position is becoming more and more important. It is predicted that by 20 15, the offshore crude oil output will be stable at 50 million tons, accounting for 26% of the whole country; Marine natural gas will reach 25 billion cubic meters, accounting for 25% of the country. The next 10 year will be a period of rapid development of natural gas industry. With the increase of offshore oil and gas production, China's crude oil import will be eased.

In 2004, in order to carry out a comprehensive geological survey of marine areas, China Geological Survey took the lead in carrying out pilot work in Yongshu Reef, Nansha according to international framing standards. After five years' work, Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey submitted the results of 1: 1 Wanyongshu Reef, which basically found out the submarine topography and geomorphology characteristics of inland shelf, continental slope and deep-sea basin, which can meet the needs of national marine economic development planning. Due to the smooth implementation of marine mineral resources exploration and other activities, China has initially formed the ability of comprehensive research and development of the ocean. In terms of technical equipment, we not only have a multi-beam sounding system and a 6000m deep-sea towed observation system, but also successfully developed a 6000m underwater robot, and the offshore drilling platform developed in China has also been successfully put into use. In addition, the "Research and Development Database of Marine Mineral Resources" has been established, and China will soon launch its first marine color satellite. Next, China plans to explore other marine mineral resources, such as cobalt-rich crusts.

At present, the technical means of marine geological survey in China mainly include: using satellite navigation and global positioning system (GPS) and radio navigation system to determine the position of survey ship, observation point and survey line at sea; Use echo sounder, multi-beam echo sounder and lateral sonar to measure water depth and detect seabed topography; Samples of seabed sediments, rocks and manganese nodules are collected by trawl, grab, box sampler, self-returning grab, column sampler and drilling. Using shallow profiler to measure the distribution, thickness and structural characteristics of loose shallow seabed; Using geophysical methods such as earthquake, gravity, magnetism and geothermal to detect the characteristics of various geophysical fields, geological structures and mineral resources on the seabed; Some also use radioactive detection technology to explore seabed placer.

China's scientific and technological personnel have also established a set of international geological survey and research methods for muddy coastal areas, which have been popularized and applied in the general survey of land and resources. At the same time, the deposition rate of coastal zone in the past hundred years is mastered, which provides a basis for quantitative evaluation and prediction of geological environment changes in coastal zone. According to the evolution characteristics of sea level rise, shallow sedimentation rate, land subsidence, ground elevation and coastal geological environment, the changing trend of geological environment on the west coast of Bohai Sea in 2050 is predicted. The status and potential of regional groundwater resources are basically identified, and the groundwater system is divided. By studying the feasibility of building "underground reservoir" by using short-term coastal valleys, this paper puts forward the joint regulation and storage of groundwater and surface water to alleviate the shortage of water resources in the coastal areas of Jiaodong Peninsula. By finding out the present situation of salt water development and utilization, this paper puts forward some suggestions on the development and utilization of groundwater resources in Bohai Rim region.

Three. Countermeasures and suggestions for strengthening marine geological exploration and protecting marine ecological environment

In the future marine geological work, China should pay equal attention to "national interests and environmental protection", adhere to the road of sustainable development, and actively carry out basic investigation and evaluation of new energy and reserve mineral resources; Offshore and ocean-going simultaneously, mainly offshore, and improve the geological survey of China's sea areas as soon as possible.

1. Enhance marine awareness

With the rise of marine development, the ocean will become a strategic place for the country to achieve sustainable economic development. It is of great significance to plan the geological work in China as a whole and provide scientific information as comprehensively and systematically as possible under the planning of the overall national goal and on the basis of safeguarding national rights and interests. Marine mining will become the main development direction of China mining industry in the next few years. At the same time, the study of marine geological environment evolution will be an important organic part of studying global climate change and ecosystem change.

2. Strengthen the construction of comprehensive strength, rationally lay out regional planning, clarify industrial structure, and increase the development and utilization of emerging industries.

Due to historical reasons, the management system based on industry management has led to the multi-head management of marine resources by various industry departments, lacking necessary coordination and constraints, resulting in fragmentation and fragmentation. Therefore, only by strengthening the management of sea areas and clarifying the division of labor policy can we lay a good environmental foundation for China's marine geological work.

3 efforts to strengthen the construction of talent team, increase investment, improve equipment, and create favorable conditions for marine geological work.

Marine geological work is a high-tech, high-risk and high-input work. Whether it is to find out the geological and mineral resources in the sea area under our jurisdiction or to explore the mineral resources in the international seabed area, it needs the strong support of the state, local authorities and other parties. It is necessary to establish a marine geological and marine development team composed of diplomatic, military, development planning, marine fishery (fishery), transportation, science and technology, education and other departments, so as to make it a well-equipped, flexible and sound marine geological team. To improve the level of marine geological work, a large part needs the support of modern equipment and high technology. There is still a big gap between China's marine exploration equipment and advanced countries. Only by actively accelerating the introduction, transformation, development and renewal of instruments and equipment can China's marine geological work reach a certain technical level.

4. Learn from the advanced experience of foreign coastal countries.

Coastal geological work should be closely combined with the needs of sustainable development. By describing the geological system of the ocean and coast, we can understand the basic process of the system, establish a prediction model, establish a database with a large amount of information, predict the future development and changes, provide information for the public interest and a comprehensive understanding of the ocean and coast, and provide corresponding information and achievements for sustainable development.

5. Improve marine environmental monitoring and actively do a good job in marine environmental protection.

With the development and utilization of marine resources, people's production, lifestyle and socio-economic structure will undergo profound changes. About 50% of the world's population lives in coastal areas, and the ocean tendency of the population has increased. While developing and utilizing the ocean, human beings realize that the ocean, as a life support system, should be protected, and "maintaining the health of the ocean" will become a super protection activity to protect human beings in 2 1 century. Including in-depth research on ocean and climate, marine biodiversity and protection, marine health monitoring and protection, marine environmental quality protection and ecological restoration, and marine environmental mutation. On this basis, we should develop science and technology to protect the ocean, establish rules and regulations to protect the ocean, and form an international organization system to protect the ocean, as well as technologies, methods and economic and social measures to predict and prevent marine disasters. Marine geological work is a high-risk work, which is not only related to national sovereignty, but also affects the marine ecological environment. While strengthening marine geological work, we must give priority to environmental protection. Only by developing marine resources rationally and scientifically and paying equal attention to development and protection can the sustainable development of China resources be realized.

At present, China has taken strengthening marine geology and developing marine resources as the development direction of future marine work. Marine geology should reflect its systematicness and integrity, actively cooperate with China's economic development, give full play to the main force of geological exploration team, and realize comprehensive and sustainable development. The ultimate goal of geological work in China is to establish a virtuous circle of nature, seek the coordination and harmony between man and nature, combine comprehensive marine management with inland development, adjust measures to local conditions, gradually form a marine economy with China characteristics, and ensure the sustainable development of social economy.

refer to

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Zhang haiqi Suggestions on marine geological work in China. Geology of China, 1996(7).

[5] Zhang Yicheng. Status, Monument and Mission-Achievements and future of marine geological work in China. Land and Resources, 2002(6).

Sister Mo, Liu Shouquan. On the development countermeasures of marine geological work in the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources. Geology of China, 1997( 1 1).

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Brief introduction of the author

[1] Han Jie, internship researcher, China Institute of Land and Resources Economics.

[2] Wang Yongsheng, Associate Research Fellow, China Institute of Land and Resources Economics.