Because it trapped countless ships, the waters where it "roamed" were called the "Sea of ​​Magic Algae"

Sargassum is a large floating algae belonging to the Sargassum family of the Phaeophyta. It is the largest algae and the only algae that can grow autonomously in open waters. Unlike seaweed that is fixed to rocks or other objects on the seabed, Sargassum does not like cold water and floats in the ocean in the form of a large "raft", absorbing nutrients directly from the seawater, splitting into pieces, and then continuing to grow independently. They roam in the ocean with the help of the power of seawater.

The Sargasso Sea, formed by a large amount of Sargassum, is located in the Atlantic Ocean. This sea area has three amazing features: no coast, clearness and tranquility. Although it is called a "sea", it is not a sea in the strict sense. It can only be regarded as a special body of water in the Atlantic Ocean. It is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and has no coast. In the Sargasso Sea live Sargassum fish, flying fish, marlin and other strange fish. These fish depend on Sargassum to survive and often use Sargassum to camouflage themselves and avoid enemies.

The Sargasso Sea is the clearest sea in the world because it is far away from river estuaries, has less excrement and less plankton.

The Sargasso Sea is calm and peaceful all year round, but it is this seemingly calm sea that has trapped countless ships, so the Sargasso Sea has two more terrifying names: "Sea of ​​Magic Algae" and "Sea Graveyard". In fact, the main reason for the ships being trapped is the ocean currents: this elliptical sea area of ​​millions of square kilometers is surrounded by four major ocean currents. The interaction of the Gulf Stream in the west, the North Atlantic Current in the north, the Canary Current in the east and the North Equatorial Current in the south causes the Sargasso Sea to flow slowly in a clockwise direction, which in turn causes ships that stray into it to be trapped.

Sargassum is widely used in different fields due to its own value, such as food, medicine, industry, etc.:

Sargassum mainly contains brown algae starch, alginate, fucoidan hemicellulose and cellulose, etc., with a content of about 60%, which can be used as a high-quality raw material for highly active dietary fiber. At the same time, Sargassum is rich in minerals and vitamins, and can be used as a good source of Ca, Fe, Zn and I. The K content in Sargassum is significantly higher than the Na content, which helps to improve the potassium-sodium balance of the human body, and is of great significance for preventing hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. It is processed into medical drugs; in the food field, Sargassum cookies are made of low-gluten flour, Sargassum, powdered sugar, butter, etc. as the main raw materials.

Sargassum cellulose-based structural materials have high hardness and can dissipate energy by destroying and reorganizing the reversible hydrogen bond interaction network between nanofibers, thereby achieving a balance of strength, modulus, toughness and thermal stability. At the same time, the structural material also has good processability and food safety, and can be processed into tableware of different shapes. Sargassum may also play a role in the treatment of industrial waste. The latest research has found that the dead body of Sargassum contains a large amount of heavy metals. It is like a natural ion exchanger that can accumulate a large number of toxic heavy metals, such as lead, cadmium, copper, chromium, zinc, uranium, etc., and become a good natural adsorbent for heavy metals.

References:

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[2]. Dai Xiaoqin. The mysterious "sea grassland" [J]. Magical map.

[3]. Linglong. What kind of sea is the Sargasso Sea? [J]. Geography Knowledge.

[4]. Zhang Huiyan. Research and development of Sargassum cookies[J]. Agricultural Products Processing 2022.6.

[5]. Wu Changfeng. Sargassum can be used as tableware to replace plastic[J]. Science and Technology Daily. 2023.1.