What if you could create a new, maybe even better continent?

如果你能創造一個新的，也許是更好的大陸呢？

Cambridge Dictionary defines a continent as “one of the seven large land masses on the

劍橋詞典》將大陸定義為 "世界上七大陸地之一"。

Earth's surface, surrounded or mainly surrounded by sea.”

地球表面，四周或主要被海包圍。"

Generally, most people are taught that there are 7 continents - Europe, Asia, Africa, Antarctica,

一般來說，大多數人都被告知有7大洲--歐洲、亞洲、非洲、南極洲。

North America, South America and Australia.

北美洲、南美洲和澳洲。

Not all cultures agree on what defines a continent.

並非所有的文化都同意什麼是大陸的定義。

And surprisingly, scientists don't either.

而令人驚訝的是，科學家們也不。

Even NASA says that there's no single, agreed upon, scientific classification for what makes

連美國宇航局都說，沒有一個統一的、公認的、科學的分類方法，來說明什麼使

a land mass a continent.

一塊陸地，一塊大陸；

There's no set square milage, no required population, nothing.

沒有固定的平方里程，沒有要求的人口，什麼都沒有。

With the definition of a continent being super murky, building a hypothetical landmass and

由於大陸的定義超級模糊，建立一個假設的地塊和

getting it classified as a continent could be a struggle and may eventually come down

歸類為一個大陸可能會有一定的難度，最終可能會降下來。

to convincing governing geographical bodies and society.

以說服地理機構和社會。

If Greenland, at almost 1 million sq miles, isn't a continent, your landmass would probably

如果格陵蘭島的面積接近100萬平方英里，不是一個大陸，那麼你的陸地可能是：

need to be huge.

需要巨大。

But what about actually constructing this continent?

但是真正建設這個大陸呢？

How on earth would that work?

這到底是怎麼做到的？

First things first, you would need to find a spot to build in international waters, meaning

首先，你需要找到一個在國際水域建設的地方，也就是說

that part of the world is not claimed by anyone else.

世界上沒有任何人對該地區提出要求。

You'd need to be at least 200 miles from any existing country's territorial sea baseline,

你需要距離任何現有國家的領海基線至少200英里。

outside their Exclusive Economic Zones.

在其專屬經濟區以外；

It should come as no surprise that you'd want to pick a fairly shallow spot since you'd

毫不奇怪，你會想選擇一個相當淺的地方，因為你會。

have to fill down to the ocean floor.

必須填到海底。

Once you found your spot, you'd need materials and a ship ton of money.

一旦你找到了你的位置，你就需要材料和一船噸的錢。

Pun intended.

雙關語的意思。

The project to build the World Islands in Dubai required over $25 billion before the

在迪拜建設世界島的項目需要250多億美元，然後才

project was even finished.

項目甚至已經完成。

And those islands only total 20 square miles and are right on the shallow shoreline!

而那些島嶼總共只有20平方英里，而且就在淺灘上!

In the middle of the ocean, with more square milage, your hypothetical continent would

在海洋的中央，如果有更多的平方公里，你的假設大陸將

cost a lot more.

花費更多。

Using those rates, it'd cost quadrillions and quadrillions of dollars.

用這些費率，要花四萬億和四萬億美金。

You'd need to start construction by creating the base of your landmass, piling sand directly

你需要開始建設，創建你的地標基地，直接堆放沙子。

onto the seafloor or even a reef.

到海底甚至礁石上。

This sand could either be brought in on a ship or you could use a sea dredging ship

這些沙子可以用船運來，也可以用挖海船運來

to dig up sand from the sea floor and reuse that.

從海底挖出沙子，然後再利用。

Then a super thick layer of rocks would be laid on top of that sand.

然後在那沙子上會鋪上一層超厚的石子。

And finally, cement would be added to top it all off.

最後，還要加上水泥，以達到錦上添花的效果。

There you have it!

有了

Your very own island!

你自己的島嶼！

Now the real battle to become more than just a measly island begins; getting it recognized

現在，真正的戰鬥開始了，讓它不僅僅是一個微不足道的島嶼；讓它得到認可。

as a continent with geographers, the scientific community and the public.

作為一個大陸，與地理學家、科學界和公眾。

With such a vague definition, this part may be tough but having a large landmass that

在這樣一個模糊的定義下，這部分可能很難，但有一個大的地塊，即

stands out from other continents should help your case.

從其他大陸脫穎而出，應該有助於你的案例。

While humans haven't yet built their own continent, they have created artificial islands,

雖然人類還沒有建立自己的大陸，但他們已經創造了人工島嶼。

like Dubai's World Islands and Palm Islands.[16] Another amazing human feat is

如迪拜的世界島和棕櫚島等[16]另一個令人驚歎的人類壯舉是。

the island of Flevopolder in the Netherlands.

荷蘭的弗萊沃普爾島。

It was created by sectioning off an area of a bay and draining the water out over the

它是由一個海灣的一個區域，並在海灣上排水而形成的。

course of decades, revealing open land to build on.

幾十年的時間，露出空地來建設。

Small artificial islands are nothing new.

小型人工島並不新鮮。

They're created all over for uses like military bases, airports and even bird sanctuaries.

它們被創造出來的用途到處都是，比如軍事基地，機場，甚至是鳥類保護區。

But they're often built in shallow water already owned by a territory, which is what

但它們往往建在已經屬於某個領地的淺水區，這就是

makes these builds quite a bit easier.

讓這些構建變得相當簡單。

Building your own continent sounds insanely expensive, very labor intensive and could

建立自己的大陸聽起來非常昂貴，非常耗費人力物力，而且可以

start a huge cultural debate, but we believe in you.

引起了一場巨大的文化爭論，但我們相信你。

We'd support your hypothetical continent.

我們會支持你的假想大陸。

What part of the world would you want to build your continent?

你想在世界的哪個地方建立你的大陸？

Let us know in the comments.

請在評論中告訴我們。