Hydrospheric mesh
This is about as of time of writing (2025) still purely hypothetical
planetary scale mesh networks spanning all parts of Earths hydrosphere.
Much like the idea of atmospheric meshes but potentially easier due to
lower overall density than air not being a requirement here.
Wear and tear
The challenge
Open ocean is one of the harshest environments for technological artifacts with …
- huge wave causing high forces and many cycles of load quickly,
- thunderstorms causing gist of corrosive salt water and lightning.
- aggressive biology like barnacles forming crusts
Current (2015) technology has a hard time putting anything of larger scale there
such that it will survive for a very long time without maintenance.
- Highly alloyed steel (like adding a lot of chromium) is too expensive for larger scales.
- Metal coated and painted steel has limited lifetime.
- Iron rebared concrete has limited lifetime as the rebar rusts eventually.
- Plastic polymers UV bleach and crumble to micro and nanoplastics.
- Geopolymers and basalt rebar might work for very long times but they are still more expensive than other means.
And it is only one single material class. - Wood rots.
Gem-gum-tech resilience to conditions on the high seas
Gemstone based metamaterials being based on fully oxidized like sapphire
or highly unreactive like diamond will not corrode from exposure to salt water and air.
Integrates electrically conductive and UV reflective materials such as titanium nonmetallides
can can keep out UV for deeper more UV sensitive structures.
Highly conductive nanotube bundle conductors may capture and neutralize lightning strikes.
Emulated elasticity atop crystolecule superelasticity makes for extremely low rate of wear if any at all.
Mokel run in reverse can as generators and can convert all the harsh wave kneading motion to energy.
This energy can by used …
- to counteract drift and stetching motion thereby preventing forces and tensions adding up to levels that no physical material could withstand
- for automated active repair for the little damage that actually does accumulate, by one way or another
Transport
(wiki-TODO: Add details.)
Deep sea research
(wiki-TODO: Add details.)
Connection to other geoengineering meshes
(wiki-TODO: Add details.)