Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1301 Draw a few circles (5k)

The leader was thinking to himself that it was probably not entirely true that the comrades here were completely unaware of the work of the Land and Resources Department. After all, there was a monster sitting next to him. If he remembered correctly, the monster seemed to know a little about it. He had shown his abilities back in Qianshan, and today it was the monster who had asked him to invite the comrades from the Land and Resources Department.

However, there was no need to say these things here. The leaders, along with the other comrades who were originally here, listened attentively to the marine resource experts from the Ministry of Land and Resources introduce the current work situation.

"...In the southern sea area, our main working area now is near the Pearl River estuary south of Guangzhou in eastern Guangdong, where we have discovered a considerable amount of shallow oil and gas. Another area is the Beihai Bay waters..."

As one of China's major river systems, the Pearl River's estuary is naturally a subject of close monitoring, and its proximity to Guangzhou provides favorable working conditions. Although the nearby Hong Kong Island and Macau are special areas, this has not caused much trouble.

Even when there's fighting near the North Bay, everyone's working, let alone here where it's calm and peaceful, no one can blow up the wings.

The comrades listened attentively. They were shocked to discover that there were so many treasures in the southern seas, right next to the land. They wondered how many more treasures lay further south. It was simply unimaginable.

"Comrade, do you have any plans to expand your operations to the south?" the naval comrade asked.

The South China Sea is a special case. For a long time, it is estimated that only the Navy will have the capacity to support the work of the Ministry of Land and Resources.

If they have this idea, then the navy should be prepared accordingly.

"To be honest, we do have this idea. In terms of marine resource exploration, we currently only have experience in shallow and near-shore areas. If we want to expand overseas in the future, this kind of experience will be indispensable. Here, we are very grateful to our colleagues for giving us this opportunity to participate in the meeting at the first opportunity and for taking our work needs into full consideration." The colleagues from the Department of Land Resources were very grateful after they learned what the meeting was for.

"You should thank the person next to me; I genuinely didn't think of that at first." The leader of the National Defense Industry Committee thought to himself, but didn't dare say it aloud: "So, in which areas do you plan to begin your work?"

The comrades from the Ministry of Land and Resources thought for a moment and were a little embarrassed: "At first, we still wanted to start with fishery resources, and we also wanted to work on mineral resources, but we still need to improve our technology."

The naval officer thought for a moment and said, "Hmm, fishery resources... How about this, we'll provide you with a ship equipped with our best sonar. That way, you'll have access to powerful equipment for fishery resource detection, making things much easier."

As one of the few non-contact detection devices that can function underwater, sonar has its own unique advantages in fishery resource detection.

"Really? That's wonderful!" The comrade from the Land Resources Department was overjoyed.

In fact, they are more interested in mineral resources, but due to limited conditions and less advanced technology, they have to start with fishery resources. He feels a little embarrassed to admit that this should be the responsibility of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery.

However, something is better than nothing. Being able to use sonar is very useful for investigating fishery resources. At least we can get the work started and train a team of people to conduct marine resource surveys.

In those days, the division of labor wasn't as detailed as it would be later. Many people would try to switch to whatever profession society needed them to do. For example, someone who was looking for fish might later switch to prospecting for minerals.

Gao Zhendong suddenly blurted out, "Comrade, how deep can your offshore drilling reach in water?"

This sounds a bit convoluted, and some comrades didn't quite understand it. However, the comrades from the Ministry of Land and Resources clearly understood it and were even a little surprised that they would ask about the two "how deep" questions together. This shows that the comrade was not completely ignorant about offshore oil work.

"The floating platform drilling rig we are using in the North Bay can only operate in water depths of about 15 meters, but the drilling depth can reach hundreds or even thousands of meters. In fact, our most solid work is in the thin sea, where we use guide steel frames, which are deeper."

"That's what the comrade from the Ministry of Land Resources said."

Gao Zhendong wasn't quite sure about this; he only knew that the data was still somewhat different from what he had envisioned.

What he didn't know was that the floating platform drilling rig in Beihai Bay was actually a modified onshore drilling rig from the Southern Guangdong Shale Oil Company, built by comrades in eastern Guangdong. That's right, we started working on shale oil in the 50s and 60s, but due to early-stage technology and later-stage environmental pollution, we weren't very interested in shale oil.

"Hmm... what technology was used for the survey? Seismic waves?" Gao Zhendong knew that this problem was difficult to solve in the short term, so he settled for a less suitable approach.

Using seismic waves to locate oil is a standard method in oil exploration with a long history, and it has been used in my country for a long time.

"Yes, yes, comrade, you're very familiar with this. However, we're using equipment modified from onshore seismographs, mainly based on the results of the Bohai Geophysical Exploration Project. It also uses seismic detectors composed of new piezoelectric crystals such as potassium sodium tartrate crystals. So now, Bohai has already drilled its first oil well..."

Speaking of this, the comrades from the Ministry of Land and Resources got really excited. And thinking about it, it's understandable; this was a masterpiece made under difficult conditions.

None of the people here, including Gao Zhendong who didn't spend resources to access the system, knew that this well was originally supposed to be dug three years later, and its early appearance was related to Gao Zhendong's fluttering little wings.

"So this system can also be used in the southern sea area?"

"Hmm... It works, but the usable range is limited. The overall underwater topography of the southern sea area is still unclear, but it is certain that it is much deeper than the Bohai Sea. Apart from the continental shelf and reefs, there are many deep water areas. This seismograph has some problems working here. The dynamic range is a bit small, only 45 dB, so it's not very good."

The reason the Sea of ​​Thinness is called the "Thin" Sea is because it is truly thin!
Gao Zhendong laughed. "Hey, if you bring this up, I'm not sleepy anymore."

"Are your current seismographs simulations?"

"Yes, that's right. Hey, comrade, how did you know? You're in this line of work too?" The comrade from the Land Resources Department was both surprised and delighted. Having a colleague here, and judging from his seating position, it seemed that communication would be much easier.

How did he know? The other comrades who knew Gao Zhendong almost burst out laughing. He probably guessed, but he was usually quite accurate.

Gao Zhendong shook his head: "I'm not, but I can help you solve the problem with the seismograph. Here's what I'll do: I'll introduce you to a few people later, and you can communicate with them properly. That should be able to improve the performance of your seismograph."

Digital transformation is not a panacea, but it works exceptionally well here.

Filtering, analog-to-digital conversion, and digital signal processing are all very familiar to those who work with radar. In essence, a seismograph is also a type of radar, except that it works by seismic waves instead of electromagnetic waves.

What analog systems often struggle with, can be surprisingly effective when properly adapted to digital systems. It's similar to how replacing the antenna in a radar system can significantly improve its performance.

"Really? Thank you so much, comrade! We need this not only for ocean exploration, but also for land geophysical exploration! If we can really increase the dynamic range by even 10 dB, it will greatly reduce the difficulty of the work for many comrades!"

As we all know, doubling by 3dB means that 10dB is a remarkable gain.

The comrades from the Ministry of Land and Resources never expected that attending a meeting would yield such a result. If the performance of the seismograph can be improved, the entire Ministry of Land and Resources will be overjoyed.

After all, while the ocean is great, current conditions are limited, making it difficult to bring things out. Water depth is a major problem. However, there are even more places where seismographs can be used on land, and mineral resources are mainly found on land.

Gao Zhendong laughed and said, "No need to thank me. Regardless of whether it's useful on land, I suggest that it be used at sea, and used as much as possible! Even if it can't be mined for the time being, it's always good to have a general understanding of the situation. Moreover, our comrades should take a stroll around the southern sea area more often, even if they don't do anything."

His words were a bit beyond the scope of what the comrades in the Ministry of Land and Resources were saying. Why were they wandering around aimlessly?

However, the comrades from the National Defense Industry Committee, the Navy, and the Air Force understood Gao Zhendong's meaning.

"Yes, you're right! These are places we should visit more often, see more, and show our faces more often," the leader of the National Defense Committee said with a smile.

Gao Zhendong stood up and walked towards the map. He had prepared for this, which was also the reason he had invited the comrades from the Land Resources Department. "I'll recommend a few places to you. Go and take a look around when you have time, and give them a good shake, hahaha."

No, you just said you weren't in this industry, so what's the meaning of recommending work areas now?
Amidst the bewildered looks of the comrades from the Ministry of Land and Resources, Gao Zhendong demarcated some areas in the southern sea, including areas such as Wanquan Beach.

"In my spare time, I've also carefully read some of the works on petroleum and minerals by comrades from the Ministry of Land and Resources, and I've been greatly inspired. I think these places have a lot of potential!" Gao Zhendong spouted nonsense without hesitation.

The words may be a lie, but the circles drawn are real; these are all future oil and gas reserves!
Comrades from the National Defense Commission and the military have become accustomed to Gao Zhendong's "extracurricular" remarks. They simply ignore them, even though they are undeniably true, as they are not very beneficial to mental health.

But the comrades in the Ministry of Land Resources had never experienced anything like this before!
Things we struggle to even determine, you just outlined in your spare time? If only work were this easy.

Although these areas are quite large and are not specific oil and gas fields or wells, this single circle is already of great significance.

"This...this...comrade, what's your surname?" This sentence should be considered a high-EQ way of saying "Who do you think you are?"

The leader of the National Defense Industry Committee laughed, knowing that Gao Zhendong's medicine was too strong and the comrade from the Ministry of Land and Resources had some side effects. He introduced, "This is Comrade Gao Zhendong from the 17th Ministry of Machine Building. He has a long history with your Ministry of Land and Resources."

You are prospectors, there are miners among you, and they are refiners.

We have no choice but to pull it like this, otherwise it's really hard to say what the relationship is.

Unexpectedly, the comrade from the Land Resources Department immediately showed an "I see" expression upon hearing this: "Ah, Committee Member Gao, no wonder, no wonder. Okay, I understand. Comrades, wait a moment, let me trace this picture."

After saying that, the two comrades, without caring about anything else, pushed up their glasses and headed towards the map, completely forgetting that they were still in a meeting.

The other comrades looked at each other in bewilderment. It seemed that they valued this map very much, but their attitude changed too quickly, didn't they?
"No, no, no need to trace it. You can take this map with you later. Meeting, meeting." The leaders of the National Defense Industry Committee had no choice but to quickly call them back. The National Defense Industry Committee could afford to produce an ordinary nautical chart.

"Ah, that's great, thank you." The colleague from the Land Resources Department walked back reluctantly, and even as he sat down, his eyes were still glancing at the map.

The chief engineer of the National Defense Industry Committee laughed and said, "Do you know Comrade Gao Zhendong?" Otherwise, their behavior cannot be explained.

The comrade from the Ministry of Land and Resources nodded and then shook his head: "I knew him, but I didn't recognize him. Now I do. The 1104 Geological Team of Chongyi in Guizhou Province highly praises Committee Member Gao and is extremely grateful. The few circles he drew on the map of Guizhou Province saved the 1104 Geological Team a lot of trouble in finding bauxite."

Now everyone understood. It turned out that this was something Gao Zhendong had done before, and it had fermented until now.

The naval officer looked at the circles on the nautical chart with great interest, comparing them one by one with the data in his mind. Suddenly, he slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "I see! These areas are amazing!"

"how?"

"Most of these areas, at least the parts where we have data, are not very deep, um... less than 200 meters."

Wanquan Beach is named as such because it is a shallow beach on the seabed, with a relatively shallow depth compared to the deep water area.

"This will greatly benefit our exploration operations, Committee Member Gao. You have considered everything very carefully when making your selection." For the Ministry of Land Resources, deep water areas are currently out of the question, but shallow water areas are promising, and these areas happen to be within their reach.

Gao Zhendong laughed and said, "The main problem is that we haven't gotten to the deep waters yet."

What? When we study this stuff, we usually start from the perspectives of terrestrial facies, marine facies, and rock strata. I've never heard of directly distinguishing between deep and shallow water before.

However, extraordinary people do extraordinary things, and there's no way to judge that. You don't care what school of thought they belong to, as long as they can achieve results, you have to admire them.

The comrades in the Ministry of Land Resources still had a considerable degree of trust in the circles drawn by Gao Zhendong.

First, the bauxite mines from Chongyi made them famous overnight; second, they knew that at least one place, the map had been drawn correctly!
That's the Beihai Bay, the western part of Tianya Island—Yingge Sea. There's a spot there where they actually drilled oil during experimental exploration! It's the one he just mentioned using the floating platform.

Apart from the Guangdong East Petroleum Exploration Team of the Ministry of Land and Resources and a few other colleagues in the Ministry, no one else knew about this matter.

Moreover, oil and gas discoveries have been made in the area of ​​the Pearl River estuary, within the area circled by Gao Weiyuan, which further increases the confidence level of these circles.

If he can circle all these places with a single stroke, then the other places he circles are more or less credible, at least much better than searching for a needle in a haystack.

It seems that when Committee Member Gao said he wasn't in this field, he was only half right. He is indeed not in this field, but he is absolutely familiar with it, and not just ordinary familiar with it!
With this unexpected surprise, the colleagues from the Earth Resources Research Institute, together with the National Defense Industry Committee, the Navy and Air Force, engaged in a lively discussion.

The main thing is one thing – we need equipment and resources.

The Ministry of Land Resources had decent equipment on land, which was generally sufficient to meet the requirements, but at sea, they were completely broke.

Hearing them say they wanted this and that, Gao Zhendong laughed and said, "Why don't you do this? Your ministry can ask the shipyard of the National Defense Industry Committee to build you a research vessel."

Can you do this?

"Build one?"

"That's right. Let's just modify the latest destroyer. Although the destroyer as a whole isn't finished, the hull is fine. We can modify this hull. It has the foundation of a warship in terms of watertightness, seaworthiness, survivability, durability, and power, so there's no need to worry. Simplifying or even eliminating the armament will greatly improve the living environment and allow for more supplies and equipment to be carried. Safety is also guaranteed. The comrades who do this work at sea are precious, and we can't afford any mistakes."

Gao Zhendong spoke eloquently, and the other comrades nodded in agreement.

"Moreover, the ship has a helicopter platform at the stern, which is very advantageous for their work. Besides, the Coast Guard's framework is already in place, so if this kind of ship retains a certain level of armament, it will become the Coast Guard's main vessel, achieving multiple benefits at once!"

Gao Zhendong hadn't forgotten the coast guard ships he'd seen in his previous life; most of the newly built ones could be found to be their siblings among naval warships.

Hearing this, the comrades from the National Defense Industry Committee were relieved about the cost issue. Those familiar with this area of ​​work knew that the more units built, the cheaper the unit price would be.

This can be seen as a way for civilian and police forces to share the cost of warships, ensuring a bright future for everyone.

"Comrade Zhendong is very thoughtful! What do you think? Why don't you go back and discuss it with the ministry? Our shipyard absolutely supports this suggestion," the leader of the National Defense Industry Committee said with a smile.

As for where the money will come from, that's a matter for final approval. The important thing is to get the channels open first. At this stage, the money is basically all in the same pot, so there's not much difference in how it goes.

"Okay, okay, we'll write the report as soon as we get back!" The comrades from the Geological Research Institute were in high spirits. If they could have a large ship with a warship as its base to serve as a maritime operation base, it wouldn't just be useful in the southern seas, but could be used from south to north!

(End of this chapter)