The soup bowl...

    Story:  Everyone knows one reason the oceans are rising is that they aren't really.  If one were to conduct a study of sediment flows from major and minor tributaries emptying into the ocean one might just find out billions and billions of cubic hectares of soil are being washed down these tributaries into the deltas, gulfs, coves, and lagoons along populated shorelines rising the ocean salt water into lower land masses sharing those same shorelines.  Essentially, we are, among other things, filling the soup bowl of the earth with silt.  We still have the same amount of water; we are just allowing the bowl to slowly overflow.  Look at the Mississippi river for example:  That River has been dredged in such a way as to create a very forceful and powerful water flow to ‘self-dredge’ the ship canals.  To accomplish this, billions of tons of top soil are being washed into the Gulf of Mexico .  An underwater soil reef is currently being expanded by this flow of soil.  The surrounding water is being forced into lower lands along the coasts.  The major rivers in China have the same effect on rising water.  So much sediment is being washed into the ocean; land is being displaced by swamp.  At the same time this artificial reef land mass is being heated by the sun as it grows in height, or its altitude gets closer to the surface.  These massive ‘heat sinks’ also add to the warming of the coastal waters.  Algae grows in this climate and pretty soon you also have massive, floating, algae  ‘heat sinks’ floating between warmer shorelines and running parallel with cold, deep ocean currents.  These cold, deep water currents are being diffused by warmer algae and sediment ‘heat sinks’ produced by expanding, man made shore line alterations.  This does not even consider the effect man made expanding shore lines have on displaced waters on other low lying continents.  Consider if you will; the Gulf of Mexico filled with sediment.  A kind of chuck-hole in a road.  Where will the warm water go?  Well, now consider that is exactly what is happening.  Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but its coming.  We need to dredge the entrances to major tributaries around the world.  We need to catch the sediment and topsoil before it makes it off our shores.  We do not need desserts in the Midwest .  One idea I had years ago for the Mississippi was called the ‘Grape Vine’.  Instead of letting the Mississippi self dredge itself into the Gulf, build a series of smaller ‘washes’ or canals and at strategic points (when sediment was high/rainy season up river) along the mighty river, open gates periodically and let the water flow pushing the top soil east and west of the river into over planted, nutrient depleted farm land. Construct high walled, massive hundred acres ponds.  Let the sediment rich water fill the ponds until the bottom is covered with nutrient rich sediment; when one pond is full, open the gates to the next.  Kind of like using irrigation canals to irrigate, but instead they are to irrigate and drop sediment to replenish depleted fields. Build a second gate system to allow the sediment free, ‘clean’ water to return to the river downstream after it has traveled enough distant and traveled at a reduced, controlled speed to drop its nutrient rich soil onto depleted farm land.  Otherwise, build an irrigation canal system to return sediment, not to irrigate.  Pumps could actually be used.  Attach the pumps to trains on a rail system that runs parallel to the river.  When the river bottom starts to rise, move the trains and pumps to that location and using high volume vacuums and pumps, pump the nutrient rich sediment onto farm land that is adjacent to the location.  Once the water started to flow over the hill, the natural suction in the downhill side of the pipe will continue the vacuum until shut off. The suction and vacuum in the massive pipes would be an impressive amount of power.   The pumps and soil could also be used to raise unusable low lands unsuitable for habitat into lands conforming to surrounding, usable lands.  The nutrient rich topsoil could be sold to states and countries that need usable soil for agriculture, building/construction projects, building dams, canals, etc.   Just a thought, all the best.  RJ

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