Chapter 819: Human Limits
valuable?
The audience was startled. They originally thought that this was just a piece of glass. Even if its formation was somewhat rare, it was not very valuable. But now it seems that this may not be the case?
[If I say this, I won’t be sleepy anymore]
[How valuable is it?]
"Well, I'm not really sure. This one, maybe a thousand or ten thousand?"
Bifang sounded uncertain.
If you look closely at the glass meteorite in your hand towards the sun, you can still see that it is of good quality.
The impact of a meteorite on the desert is an extremely violent process, which involves a series of complex activities such as high-intensity impact, high-temperature ablation, and environmental air flow surges.
After a violent meteorite impact, a large amount of sand was blown up and collided with each other. Under the high-temperature ablation, the prototype of the glass meteorite was formed after multiple impacts and under the action of strong airflow, a complex texture was formed due to the impact of meteorites, sand and other materials, and the combined action .
The impact of airflow and blowing sand acts on the ablated crystals more than once, forming this seemingly simple but multi-intersecting texture from the inside out.
It is very difficult , which further increases the value of glass meteorites.
The piece in Bifang's hand does not have too many obvious bubbles and impurities inside, and is quite clear. Perhaps if it is put on the market, it can be sold at a high price of tens of thousands.
Of course, that’s all. Its value is incomparable to the giant jadeite that Bifang found last time.
[Inflation is really getting worse and worse. Now when I hear about thousands or tens of thousands of yuan, it seems like nothing (covering my face)]
[When I bought breakfast this morning, I found that the price of potato pancakes downstairs had increased by two yuan. I was so sad, woo woo woo]
[Look for it again, maybe there is more. Since this thing is purely natural, there shouldn't be only one piece, right? ]
Bifang agreed with what the audience said and began to search nearby to see if there was any similar natural glass.
Although the value of the glass itself is not high for Bifang now, there is a unique pleasure in finding them, just like finding treasure in the wilderness.
"In 1932, the British explorer Patrick Clayton, who discovered the glass meteorite, was determined to go deep into the Sahara Desert in search of treasure."
Bifang stuffed the yellow meteorite glass into his backpack and began looking for gems near the oasis, while also doing some simple historical research.
In the middle of the 19th century, with the completion of the Industrial Revolution, the major capitalist countries in the world at that time moved towards the stage of monopoly capitalism and foreign aggression and expansion, followed by a huge wave of exploration.
Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the craze for exploration has never ceased since the 16th century, and it has continued to intensify until the 21st century.
People were eager for more wealth. In order to obtain it, the rich and the nobles made huge investments, which led to the emergence of batches of navigators.
Columbus and Magellan were both outstanding figures of this period.
This was a relatively primitive and rough expedition, which cost a lot of lives, but the value it brought was undoubtedly great. For the first time, mankind knew the full picture of the world.
By the 19th century, humans had a concrete and detailed understanding of the world, but it was limited to the surface. They could clearly point out any direction on the globe, but they still knew nothing about certain dangerous areas. The completion of the Industrial Revolution provided the basic conditions for exploring these dangerous areas.
Amundsen and Scott were outstanding figures of this time.
The polar regions, deserts, and rainforests became the places that people of this period desired to visit.
If the Poles are the extension of the exploration of the Earth that began in the 16th century, with people trying to know what the scene was like at the northern and southernmost parts of the Earth, then the Sahara and the rainforest are the attempt to find something different.
Ancient temples, magnificent pyramids, mysterious totems, natural and beautiful mineral crystals...
"Ha, another piece, still yellow, but the texture isn't as good as before."
Bifang dug out another piece of angular meteorite glass from the sand, wiped it briefly and put it away.
"There could be any danger deep in the vast desert, so few people try to go in. What attracts Clayton and others to go straight into the hinterland is the temptation of treasure hunting."
"Clayton heard that there was an oasis city in the desert, which contained rich treasures. However, the expedition team did not find this oasis city that only existed in legends. Instead, they found something special."
"I have already told you once, and you all know it now. It is Libyan meteorite glass."
"At first, Clayton just thought the glass was novel and beautiful, so he collected them and brought them back to Europe."
"But how can you become an explorer without some skills? This is not a profession that can be achieved with courage and boldness. With his keen experience in geology, Clayton felt a little strange. How could such exquisite glass appear in the barren desert?"
"However, due to the development of the times, he never found the answer. In the next two years, he traveled back and forth between the Sahara Desert and Europe many times and collected many such glass samples."
"Two years later, Clayton carefully sealed the collected glass in a whiskey bottle. Along with the glass, there was also a small note that recorded the collection of the glass."
"The bottle, made of Libyan desert glass, lay untouched for 50 years until it was discovered in 1984 by an Italian archaeologist named Giancarlo Canillo."
"He was equally amazed by the exquisiteness of the glass and the mystery of its unknown origin. The detailed note about its collection gave him a bold idea."
"A year later, Canillo organized an expedition to retrace Clayton's path. He was not looking for the treasure that Clayton had not found, but specifically for desert glass."
"Then in 1996, the year I just mentioned, the gemstone on the pharaoh's head was found to be glass. Probably from that time, Libyan meteorite glass began to become famous and gradually became valuable."
After searching for a long time nearby, I only found three pieces of Bifang in total. The first piece was of the best quality, while the next two were not very good.
Maybe it adds up to about 30,000 yuan?
"It's been too long since the glass was formed. The sand dunes in the Sahara Desert are constantly moving, not to mention the meteorite glass hidden in the desert. I don't find it strange that they appear anywhere in this desert."
Bifang happily put the three pieces of glass into his backpack, and separated them carefully to avoid friction and collision between them, which might cause scratches or bumps.
Thirty thousand yuan was already a considerable sum of money for him in the past, and their commemorative significance far outweighs their actual value.
The jade I tried to get last time was lost, but this time I was finally able to bring back some valuable minerals, which fulfilled my treasure hunting dream.
After distilling some fresh water, Bifang and Alpha continued on their way.
“After Libya, it’s Chad. This is the trip I’m most looking forward to, the Death Heart of Africa.”
Chad, a landlocked country in central Africa, has more than 200 ethnic groups, a staggering number.
Its territory is divided into three main geographical regions: the desert region in the north, the arid Sahel region in the center, and the Sudanese grassland region in the south.
Because most of it is a desert area far away from the ocean and it is hot all year round, it is also called the "Heart of Death in Africa".
Many places here are sparsely populated except for the daily camels and herders, making it one of the least tourist-visited countries in the world.
The Ennedi Plateau, located right in the middle of the Sahara Desert in northeastern Chad, is not only one of the most remote and beautiful deserts in the world, but also a hidden pearl on the planet that has yet to be overwhelmed by tourists and crowds and remains virtually intact.
After taking a sip of water, Bifang re-judged the direction.
Before going to Chad, he had another place in Libya he wanted to "check in".
That is Lake Ummah in Libya.
Umm Mai, which means "Mother of Water", is one of the largest oasis lakes, embedded deeply in the sand dunes of the deep Sahara.
But for those brave and adventurous travelers, these are not reasons to stop them, and can even be seen as prerequisites for getting rewards. The ultimate reward is the oldest oasis in the Sahara Desert, a surreal landscape.
“The Sahara has only two permanent rivers and a handful of lakes, but it has large underground reservoirs, or aquifers.”
"Its permanent rivers are the Nile and the Niger. The Nile rises in central Africa south of the Sahara and flows north through Sudan and Egypt before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea."
“The Niger River originates in West Africa, southwest of the Sahara Desert, flows northeast into Mali, then turns southeast, passes through Nigeria, and flows into the Gulf of Guinea.”
"It doesn't have many permanent lakes, only about 20 or so, and only one of them has drinking water, the vast and shallow Lake Chad, which, as its name suggests, is located in the territory of our next destination and is a lake that is constantly expanding and shrinking. The other lakes are filled with undrinkable salt water."
"Ummu Mai is one of the best, and it's on my route, so I have to go and see it anyway."
[No, there are only more than 20 of them. What about the oasis that Fang Shen encountered before? That doesn’t seem to be a saltwater lake.]
[That’s not a lake, right?]
【It can only be considered a pool】
"A lake is defined as a body of water surrounded by land on all sides. Although no one has ever defined how big a lake should be, the small oases we have experienced obviously cannot be counted as such."
Bifang explained with a smile.
It is now the end of July. The temperature of the sand in the Sahara Desert can reach over 70 degrees Celsius, and there is no trace of water on the surface of the sand.
Just thinking about seeing a big lake is bound to make people excited.
That night, Bifang chose to travel overnight, which was rare.
Under the starry night, billions of tons of sand slide, accompanied by a buzzing sound that can be heard several kilometers away.
Singing sand dunes are one of the unique features of the Sahara, with constant sand avalanches over the years.
Accompanied by some scary "background music", Bifang saw his destination in his sight early the next morning.
It was indeed big, completely dwarfed by what Bifang had encountered before.
Unlike what one might imagine, although there are green grasslands around Lake Ummae, there are not many animals here. It is not a lively scene at all, only endless flies.
[Damn...what's so good about this thing...]
[I vomited and felt a little nauseous]
There are too many flies.
[Is this a jellyfish? I'm a little skeptical about my life]
"Hahaha, I never said that Ummai was full of life. Maybe it was a long time ago, but not now."
Bifang rode on a camel and looked at the huge lake, and he couldn't tell whether he was feeling emotional or not.
"Umm Mai is a very special dead lake. The water here has been evaporated by high temperatures for tens of thousands of years and contains a lot of salt. In addition, the rotting corpses of various animals contain a lot of toxins in the lake, making it impossible to drink."
"Most animals that died near this lake died of thirst or were poisoned by drinking the lake water by mistake. Their deaths further increased the toxicity of the lake water."
"There are 16 lakes around it, some of which dry up from time to time, while others continue to exist in the embrace of the desert. This saltwater lake was once a famous trading center for local residents."
“But as the lake water gradually became dirty, it was gradually abandoned.”
"One interesting thing is that the salt concentration of the lake water here is very high, even comparable to that of the Dead Sea, so it is very easy to swim in it."
[I vomited. Who would swim in this?]
【Would you like to go down and eat flies? 】
[When did Fang Shen become so disgusting?]
The audience cannot accept Bifang's heavy taste.
"Just kidding, I don't want to eat a fly either."
Bifang shrugged and pointed to the lake.
“It’s a pity it’s not October now, otherwise we could see lots of swallows here.”
【swallow?】
[I remember now, there seemed to be birds in the oasis that Fang Shen just saw]
"Yes."
"All migratory birds in the world migrate at specific times every year, and their migration routes remain unchanged for thousands of years."
"Just like some fish migrate back to their birthplace every year to spawn, they will continue to migrate even if the journey is long and dangerous."
"Swallows are part of this migration, and European swallows fly thousands of miles south every winter, across the Sahara Desert into Africa, where they spend the cold winter."
"The most difficult problem in crossing the desert is the supply problem along the way. Although they have strong endurance and light bodies, the long journey of thousands of miles consumes a lot of energy, and they also need sufficient food and water to replenish their physical energy in order to successfully complete the migration."
"Although there is no shortage of water in the desert, as I said, birds will not easily change their migration routes. There is only one water source on their migration route, and that is Lake Ummah."
"It's obviously impossible to drink it directly. You will be poisoned to death in minutes, and your fate will be the same as the corpses of nearby animals."
[Damn it, I already know this]
[Stop talking, give Yan Zi some face]
[I have tasted enough. 】
"But we can't ignore one important creature: the ubiquitous fly."
The constant buzzing of flies over the water seemed to answer.
"As nature's decomposers, flies filter toxins from lake water. So flies can replenish water and energy for swallows. Even if a fly's legs are small, they are still meat."
"After eating hundreds of flies, the swallows are full of energy. They flap their wings and continue to fly south to their migration destinations."
The audience in the live broadcast room felt nauseous, and Bifang laughed.
“If you really can’t hold on in the desert and can’t drink salt water, can you challenge the limits of human beings?”
