Upon hearing this, everyone froze on the spot, and Lu Yuan quickly recalled some common sense about physics and geography he had learned in high school.
Geothermal energy forms when groundwater is affected by magma layers or other areas with higher temperatures, transferring heat to the water source. The water source is then heated by the heat, thus forming geothermal energy.
In China, there are many regions with natural geothermal hot springs. These places have all been developed into tourist attractions by businessmen, and the geothermal energy has been used as natural hot springs for tourists to enjoy.
These hot springs contain a large amount of minerals. If people soak in hot springs for a long time, it will improve their body's immunity and replenish some of the minerals needed by the body. Although Lu Yuan felt that this was not very reliable, it also proved that there must be water in them.
Lu Yuan quickly waved his hand, and several people immediately surrounded him. He then opened the map again to check the nearby water sources. However, some of the river images showed that they had already dried up in the first year of the apocalypse, and the groundwater had receded to hundreds of meters below the surface. In some places, the water source had even dried up completely.
Although a massive flood occurred in the third year of the apocalypse, the terrain of China is high in the west and low in the east, so after the earthquake, the water sources disappeared and their destination became unknown.
Even if there is still groundwater, the severe earthquake caused changes in the terrain, making it impossible to determine whether the groundwater still exists. The only way to detect it is through artificial means.
Finding groundwater again is extremely difficult now. There are no usable water sources marked on the entire map. Although there are a few water sources, they are marked as highly toxic and cannot be drunk.
"Great! We'll figure out the water problem tomorrow. It's just too hot here! We need to go back and rest for a bit, and come back tomorrow!"
So Lu Yuan asked people to mark this place so they could continue their research later. By this time, it was already late, and everyone had been out for a very long time. Staying in such a high-temperature environment for a long time often leads to various problems due to dehydration.
Therefore, for the safety of his team members, Lu Yuan had no choice but to stop today's search.
Back at the camp, after Lu Yuan and the others lay down in their radiation protection suits, thick white mist immediately rose from each of them, as if they had just come out of a sauna, their clothes completely soaked.
After taking off his radiation protection suit, Lu Yuan felt exhausted and prepared to go back to his residence to change his clothes.
However, on the way, they encountered Chen Yan, who was carefully carrying a basin of containers toward the laboratory, not daring to pay too much attention to the people nearby.
Upon seeing this, Lu Yuan called out from afar, "Yanzi, what's that you're holding?"
Upon hearing Lu Yuan's words, Chen Yan let out a gasp, nearly dropping the vessel in her hand. Fortunately, she managed to regain her balance and slowly placed the vessel on the ground after a long while, glancing back at Lu Yuan with a hint of anger.
"You scared me to death! Didn't you see what I'm holding? These are some aquatic plants that I managed to get from outside!"
Lu Yuan walked over and looked curiously at the glass bottle filled with water and plants.
"Aquatic plants? Aren't they all extinct? Where did you get these?"
A smug look immediately appeared on Chen Yan's face.
"I had to ask a lot of people for help to get this. The people in the lab promised to help me get a little bit, but it's been months and I've only finally managed to get this tiny bit. It's very precious!"
"Oh, really!" Lu Yuan said casually. In fact, he had already realized that this aquatic plant was the famous water hyacinth when he looked down, along with some green duckweed.
These two plants are considered extremely precious after the apocalypse, but before the apocalypse, they were ubiquitous. You could find them in any small ditch. However, due to a year-long drought, the rivers have completely disappeared, and almost all aquatic plants have become extinct.
Lu Yuan was somewhat surprised to see freshwater water hyacinths and duckweed again at this time.
Upon hearing Lu Yuan's nonchalant remark, Chen Yan's pretty face immediately hardened: "Lu Yuan, you look so disdainful. Do you know how precious this thing is? A single plant of this can sell for tens of thousands of yuan. I had to search high and low to get just a tiny bit. With this, we can finally drink clean water!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan was immediately startled and quickly asked, "What? You mean this thing can purify water? I think I've heard about it in the news before. It seems like this kind of thing has caused pollution before. How could it possibly purify water?"
Chen Yan smiled mysteriously, then continued, "You don't understand, do you? The reason why duckweed used to cause large-scale water pollution was because it absorbed a lot of chemical industrial products. These chemical products contain a lot of trace elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, which makes them grow at an extremely fast rate."
Therefore, the large-scale proliferation of these aquatic plants has covered the entire river surface, preventing underwater organisms from receiving sunlight and thus hindering photosynthesis. This results in insufficient oxygen levels in the water, causing pollution. However, if we control the pollution, these plants can absorb some impurities and trace elements from the water source.
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