Observations placeholder
Bryson, Bill - The sea, the sea
Identifier
018647
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
When you examine just how many systems are in place to achieve stability, it becomes almost impossible to believe that all this was an accident. There is order and logical dependency inherent in the systems of the universe and our planet, systems are interrelated – many not biological, many biological, but the interactions are certainly not accidental, they follow a distinct pattern.
This is design and planning on a massive monumental and hugely impressive scale. Anyone who has ever been involved in any form of system development cannot fail to be locked in wonder at the achievement inherent in this integrated system. Probably incomprehensible to the vast majority of people – which is why I suspect the ignorant and slightly dense call it 'accidental' or 'chance'
A description of the experience
Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything
There is a lot of salt in the sea – enough to bury every bit of land on the planet to a depth of 150 metres. It had been known for centuries that rivers carry minerals to the sea and that these minerals combine with ions in the ocean to form salts.
So far, no problem.
But what was puzzling was that the salinity levels of the sea were stable.
Millions of gallons of fresh water evaporate from the ocean daily, leaving all the salts behind, so logically the seas ought to grow more salty with the passing years, but they don't.
Something takes an amount of salt out of the water equivalent to the amount being put in …. deep sea vents provided the answer …. water is taken down into the earth's crust, salts are stripped from it, and …. clean water is blown out again through the vents.....