Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Weather inquiry - What is "sea light"?

What is "sea light"?

Confusing ocean "magic light"

According to the statistical classification of marine science experts, magic light can be divided into three types, namely luminous sphere, luminous cloud and luminous wheel.

Sea lantern ball

1902 On September 30th, Moravia Captain A. Sipson observed a glowing sphere in the Atlantic Ocean. He wrote in his nautical diary: "For a whole hour, the electro-optic telephoto, the spear rope, the top of the mast and the end of the transverse truss in the air all gave off snow-white light. The lights on the steel cable are like a group of bright bulbs hanging on the rope every other meter, which is very beautiful. At both ends of the mast and at the end of the transverse truss, dazzling sparks shine. " After the marine wonders were revealed, they aroused the strong interest of scientists. Many scientists believe that it may be a discharge phenomenon formed when the electric field intensity in the atmosphere is large. However, this idea has not been confirmed until today.

1967 12.3 A strange phenomenon occurred at the Hochet Hart hydrometeorological station in the Arctic, where lightning never happened. 15: 05, a ball of light suddenly appeared on the western horizon, surrounded by a bright light, with a band of light behind it, just like a light beam rising from the sea. The ball of light continued to rise and separated into a small ball of light. After 2-3 minutes, the small light ball disappeared, while the original big light ball continued to climb. At about 15: 00 and 10: 00, the big ball of light and the dragged band began to disappear, and the rest of the glow remained until about 16: 00. Until now, people have not figured out the real reason for it.

Ocean halo

In the history of Russian navigation, it is not uncommon to encounter a halo at sea. Once, while the ship was driving, a dazzling green and white light suddenly appeared on the surrounding sea, which gradually expanded to form a halo and surrounded the hull. After a few minutes, this halo naturally disappeared. There are so many things like this that marine scientists are reluctant to record the specific time. However, scientists did not expect that this strange sea halo would have an impact on the navigation of ships.

1902, Russian sail cruisers blocked the way of Japanese fishing boats in Kamchatka. At that time, the captain thought that the compass was out of order and could not control the course. Later, he learned that it was caused by the halo at sea. Later, it was found that the arrival of seasickness was accompanied by many strange phenomena: the pointer of the compass suddenly swung from side to side, people's hair clicked from time to time, and some objects on the ship shook with it.

Sea lantern wheel

1880 On a dark night in May, a ship named "Partner" was sailing in the Persian Gulf. Suddenly, round light wheels with a diameter of 500-600 meters appeared on both sides of the ship. These two strange "sea lanterns" revolve around the center of the ship at sea. They followed the boat and disappeared after about 20 minutes. At about 3 pm on June 1909, a Danish steam turbine sailed in the Straits of Malacca. Captain Tan Bin suddenly saw a strange phenomenon on the sea: a round light wheel almost touching the sea was spinning in the air, and the crew felt very uncomfortable at that time. 1in the early morning of March 3, 933, people saw a more bizarre sea fire when there was a roar in Sanluhai, Japan. When the waves come in, three or four round light wheels like straw hats appear under the waves, moving forward in a row, and the colors are blue and purple, which makes people see the fragments of ships drifting with the waves.

The more peculiar phenomenon of the sea nimbus was observed by the crew of Anton Macarinco, a cargo ship in Malacca Strait in 1973. It was two in the morning, and the night watchman saw several bright spots in the distance. At first, he thought it was an ordinary sea glow, but suddenly the light spot began to rotate, forming a light band with a width of about 10 ~ 15 meters. Then, the two ends of the light belt bend in the same direction, forming a huge light wheel, which rotates counterclockwise faster and faster. After a few minutes, the nimbus slowly dispersed into small spots and then quietly disappeared.

More interestingly, at that time, newspapers and periodicals in the former Soviet Union, France, Germany and other countries often saw the same report. A German publication once reported that a cargo ship named "Goringford loucks" was found in the Gulf of Siam. At that time, two coaxial phosphorescent connecting wheels, which were several kilometers long, rotated up and down in different directions.

Faced with these offshore light wheels, it is speculated that the rotating aperture may be caused by the combination of mast, sling and cable; Marine plankton can also produce beautiful light wheels; Perhaps it is a phenomenon caused by ball lightning electric shock; Or it is caused by some physical phenomenon. After all, all these contradictory statements are still at the level of conjecture, and the solution of the real mystery needs a lot of research work and the testimony of more marine researchers to get a scientific and perfect explanation.

Haidenghuo

On the evening of September 1975 and 12, a slight light appeared on the sea near Langjiasha, Jiangsu Province. With the ups and downs of the waves, it churned like a burning flame until dawn. The next evening, the light appeared again, with stronger brightness. On the seventh day, many bubbles appeared on the sea. When the fishing boat passed by, the water surface was bright and abnormal, and there were pearl-like sparkling particles in the water. A few hours later, there was an earthquake here.

This phenomenon of seawater glowing is called "sea light fire". Ocean flares often appear before and after earthquakes or tsunamis. 1the night before the Tangshan earthquake on July 28, 976, this phenomenon also appeared on the sea around Qinhuangdao and Beidaihe.

How is sea fire formed? It is generally believed that luminescent organisms in water are disturbed and emit light. Therefore, it is speculated that when seawater is violently shaken by earthquake or tsunami, it will stimulate these creatures and make them emit abnormal light. However, other researchers disagree with this. They suggested that on stormy nights, the sea water was also severely disturbed. Why are these luminous creatures not stimulated to produce sea fire? They think that the light fire at sea is a luminous phenomenon similar to the ground fire.

Not long ago, American scholars conducted fracture tests on rock samples such as columnar granite, basalt, coal and marble. It is found that when the pressure is large enough, these samples will explode and rupture, releasing an electron flow within a few milliseconds, exciting the surrounding gas molecules to emit weak light. In the experiment, they also noticed that if the sample is placed in water, the electron flow generated during fragmentation can also make the water surface emit flame-like light.

However, when a tsunami occurs, unlike earthquakes, a large number of rocks will burst (except earthquakes and tsunamis). So, how did the sea fire form? Some people think that ocean flare, as a complex natural phenomenon, may have many genetic mechanisms, and bioluminescence and rock burst light are only two possible mechanisms. What are the different characteristics of ocean flares produced by different mechanisms is still a mystery.

Xia Hai Shiguang

On the coast of the Red Sea, a small coastal area was designated as a tourist attraction and became a paradise for diving. Unfortunately, however, there have been mysterious disappearances under the sea for a long time. The bizarre case of missing persons here was only regarded as an accident, which did not attract attention until one day the local government received a report: Emma and Max, two snorkeling enthusiasts from Germany, mysteriously disappeared in this sea area. They disappeared underwater 50 meters from the coast in sunny weather. Their partner Toto Lyudweg was left on board. He pointed to the scene of the accident and said, "Emma and Max made a strange discovery after diving underwater. So, I swam into the water and reported to me that they had found a strange flash phenomenon in the depths of the sea floor, and they were very interested. This underwater flash is like someone flipping the switch of a small lamp there, sometimes turning on and off-this flash has the luster and color of mother-of-pearl, and will go out after 5 minutes. ...

"They went back there for the second time to observe. This time, I waited for a long time and still couldn't see them. I was in a hurry and had to dive down to find them alone. I looked for it for more than half an hour, but I couldn't find it. I saw a huge shiny gravel deep in the sea. "

The local government sent professional divers to search in the water and searched all the surrounding waters but found nothing. So the divers investigated what Tuo Lyudwig called the mysterious boulder flashing underwater. Seen from the outside, this underwater boulder looks like the head of an ancient statue. From its front, it looks like a giant's face, with a small nose and eyes, and its surface is very smooth by the sea.

1 month later, another similar accident happened: an Italian female diver named Nai birendra came to dive near the glittering underwater boulder, but returned to the boat because of an abnormal feeling. Later, she went into shock for no reason and had mysterious burning marks on her hands. When Nai birendra woke up, he recalled, "Under the water, I just touched the boulder-it flashed white light intermittently. At this time, I realized a strong electric shock. "

For a long time, the strange phenomenon of light and stone in this sea area has aroused great concern and interest of scientists. In order to study the mysterious flash of this underwater boulder, scientists made it into a movie and organized oceanographic, optical and other related experts to observe and study it. Scientists believe that this underwater luminous boulder resembles the head of an ancient statue by accident. There is no doubt that this boulder has become a powerful electromagnetic radiation source on a regular basis, but the mechanism of its electromagnetic radiation is still inconclusive. In particular, where its underwater light source comes from is still a mystery.

sea fog

Sunrise at sea is a great spectacle. If you can see the misty sea light at night, it is also quite magnificent. Sometimes it's like a star, sometimes it's like milky light, sometimes it's more like a colorful fireworks show. People call this phenomenon "sea fog". What is this fascinating sight?

There is a sea fog in the foam around and at the stern of the sailboat, which is mainly luminous plankton with very small particles, generally 0.02 ~ 5 mm. It is mostly rose red. Usually, there is a fatty substance in it, which can glow slightly. Luminescence is characterized by a large number of white, light green or light red flashes. But they are usually more obvious only when there are mechanical disturbances or chemical stimuli on the sea surface. When the waves push them to the coast of Shi Shuo, they glow more easily. The light emitted is like a spark, such as "light rain" falling, wave after wave. Such ocean "magic light" is often called "spark-type sea light fog".

Another kind of sea fog is caused by marine luminescent bacteria. Their luminous intensity is weak, which is characterized by the milky glow on the sea surface as long as there are a large number of luminous bacteria, regardless of the sea state and whether the outside world interferes or not. Such bacteria are mostly found in estuaries, harbors, cold and warm currents, especially crowded sewers or polluted seawater. This kind of seawater glow is called "diffuse sea fog".

Another kind of sea fog is caused by huge luminous creatures in the ocean, such as jellyfish, sponges, liverworts, ring worms and shellfish. Jellyfish have special light-emitting organs on their bodies, which emit great flashes when stimulated. Some fish can secrete a special substance, which reacts with oxygen to emit light. This luminous creature usually appears in isolation, which is more noticeable under the stimulation of mechanical and chemical substances. The light they emit has the characteristics of flicker and darkness, and it circulates repeatedly, like a flashlight. This phenomenon of seawater luminescence is called "flash sea light fog".

Ocean fog is not only colorful, beautiful and attractive, but most importantly, it is closely related to production and construction. The sea area with strong sea fog can reflect the sea view at night, so when a ship meets the sea glow at night without moonlight, it will make the captain have an illusion, lead to an average accident and affect the safe navigation of the ship. A correct grasp of sea light and fog can predict the weather. Fishermen in China, Hebei and Liaoning provinces, after years of observation, summed up the folk proverb "See the light and fog, see the wind and rain". The sea light excited by fish swimming exposes the hiding place of fish, so experienced fishing boat captains use it to fish at night.