Transporting fresh water through the ocean
At google images type in map circumpolar current antarctica to see a bunch of maps of the seas around Antarctica. My favourite, showing the circumpolar current, is from
http://rightbasicbuilding.com/earth-oce ... lar-views/The picture is at
http://go2.wordpress.com/?id=725X1342&s ... zimuth.pngNew Zealand has abundant pure water for export, as does Papua New Guinea. A nice photoessay from NZ is at
http://www.taraweraultra.co.nz/travel/index.htmlStarting with a sphere of one cubic metre volume, multiplying diameter by ten increased volume by 1000 times and surface area by 100 times. Hence a sphere of diameter of 12 meters contains a megalitre (1,000,000 litres), diameter of 120 metres contains a gigalitre (one billion litres) and diameter of 1200 metres contains a teralitre (one trillion litres or one cubic kilometer). The sphere is the most efficient shape in terms of surface area as it has the lowest surface to volume ratio of any solid. A fabric sphere of fresh water will float in the current with 2.5% of its volume above the surface, unless it is weighted to float at a depth that will protect it from surface hazards. Suitable polymers are available off the shelf that will be robust at sea and maintain purity of contained fresh water.
I told my daughter Diana about this idea today, linking to the idea of the
skysail to pull the bag through the current. Diana informed me that it is in
James and the Giant Peach, where seagulls tow the peach through the ocean using gossamer.
Your comment about dolphins is nice, but I think we will have to make robot whales out of waterbags, converting wave energy into propulsive force, before we can convince any cetaceans to cooperate with us.
Here is my picture of a robot whale.
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