干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

In this paper, we propose the Deep Ocean Water (DOW) Upwelling Machine which is driven by the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) for the purpose to increase the primary production in the stratified sea area of low latitude, so called "the sea of desert". In the area, there are very little nutrients in the surface layer of the sea where photosynthesis can be done by phytoplankton. To increase the primary production in the sea area, the machine upwells the nutrient-rich DOW and diffuses it very widely in the layer of sunlight by using a phenomenon of the density current which is driven by the gravity. The study of the effect and feasibility of the machine is carried out and it seems very significant.