The Devil’s Triangle: The Mystery of Poyang Lake
This is a magical water area. It seems very peaceful now, but the boss of the ship knows that there is always a murderous intention hidden here. In the blink of an eye, strong winds will come suddenly, and if you can't reach the shore in time, you will be doomed. Huge waves beat against the hull of the boat, and water poured into the boat from all directions. No matter how experienced you were, there was nothing you could do. In just ten minutes, it will be buried under the water and disappear without a trace, and then the waters will immediately return to calm. Local fishermen call it the Devil's Triangle, and some people call it China's Bermuda.
In the north of Jiangxi Province, on the south bank of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, there is a vast, endless body of water. This is China's largest freshwater lake, Poyang Lake. Whenever fishing news comes, the fishing boats on the lake will be busy with the rich harvest, and the market along the lake is also a busy and joyful harvest scene. However, in this peaceful and peaceful Poyang Lake, there is an eerie death zone. Because there is a Laoye Temple on its east bank, people call it "Laoye Temple Waters". For thousands of years, countless ships have been mercilessly swallowed by the lake here. However, what is even more bizarre is that cargo ships with thousands of tons will mysteriously disappear in this water with a depth of only 18 meters. No matter how people search, No trace of them was found. This is also somewhat similar to Bermuda.
Why are there only shipwrecks in Laoye Temple in the huge Poyang Lake? And where did those disappeared ships go? Is there really a legendary water monster at the bottom of this lake? Or does a space-time tunnel really exist? All kinds of weird theories have cast layers of mystery on this water area. Perhaps it is full of legend in the eyes of outsiders, but how do the local fishermen who live with it day and night feel?
This place is generally called the Gate of Hell, which is a relatively sinister place. Several ships were sunk in one day, all of which were large ships of over four to five hundred tons. This place, how should I put it, is a bit evil.
On November 9, 2001, sand transport ship No. 01571 in Huaiyuan County, Anhui Province was filled with sand and was about to leave the waters of Laoyemiao, when disaster suddenly struck.
Interview: Yu Wu Di
That storm came at a strange time. Generally, you can watch the weather. If there is a big storm, you should stay close to the boat. That storm was so sudden.
In the blink of an eye, the wind was strong and the waves were rolling. The fishing boats not far from the shore docked one after another. At this time, the sand transporting boat was in the middle of the lake. Wu Chunsong, who lives on the shore, vaguely saw the cargo ship still in the lake in the yard, and quickly ran to the lake. Seeing the sand transporting ship spinning in the lake not far away, Wu Chunsong was shocked by the strong wind and waves. And nothing can be done. At this time, the sand transport ship was only 1.5 kilometers away from the shore.
Interview: Fishing Angkor
It sank in more than ten minutes
Interview: Fishing Angkor
We saw that it had Sink, it’s terrible, it’s a shipwreck.
The storm seemed to hit suddenly, and then quickly disappeared after ten minutes. The lake was calm, as if nothing had happened. At this time, Wu Chunsong and other villagers immediately started rescue on the water. Immediately, several fishing boats rowed to the center of the lake at the same time. Since accidents often occur in this area, the local fishermen are accustomed to spontaneously rescuing people, and they also move very quickly. Even so, unfortunate things still happened.
Interview: Angkor Angkor
There were 5 people on their boat, 3 died and 2 were saved. He was three sisters, one lover and one son. After saving their lover and son, the three sisters all died.
For those who are alive, this will be their eternal sad place.
No one can say clearly how many ships have sunk in these waters over the past thousands of years. What we can see is only the records of major water accidents of Jiujiang Maritime Safety Bureau in recent decades.
On October 14, 1973, the motor cargo ship of Xingzi Shipyard sank in the waters of Laoye Temple, killing 13 people.
On March 15, 1985, a 25-ton ship numbered "Raoji 41838" sank about three kilometers south of Laoye Temple at 6:30 in the morning.
On August 3 of the same year, two 20-ton cargo ships of Jiangxi Jinxian County Shipping Company miraculously died at the bottom of the lake in the waters of Laoye Temple. On the same day, 12 other ships met their fate.
Since the 1960s alone, more than 100 ships have sunk in these waters, and dozens of lives have been mercilessly swallowed by the lake.
For many years, crew members on passing ships have been wary of passing by. Since the water area of Laoye Temple is the only water channel from Poyang Lake to the Yangtze River, although it is dangerous, these people who rely on water for food have to come and break through it again and again. Finally, the mysterious shipwreck in Laoye Temple waters has attracted the attention of more and more scientific researchers. In their eyes, all kinds of legends are of course not credible. Only by using scientific methods to find out the real cause of the shipwreck can this ancient mystery in people's hearts be solved and help people stay away from these disasters. However, researchers face a huge challenge.
Over the past thirty years, scientific research groups have come one after another to investigate the waters of Laoye Temple. However, due to various reasons, they have not found an exact and reasonable explanation for the shipwrecks in this waters. Is there really no answer to this mystery? In 1985, an expert team composed of meteorology, hydrology, and geology departments once again came to this magical body of water. The mysteries of nature are endless, and they firmly believe that there must be an unusual causal relationship between the power of nature and the mystery of the ancient shipwreck. Investigations began immediately. Since the local fishermen were the first witnesses when the ship sank, the first thing experts should do is to learn about the situation from the local fishermen. After talking to dozens of fishermen or villagers, experts found that people's judgments on the cause of the capsized boat were almost identical.
After getting such an answer, the inspection team first turned their attention to the wind. Of course, what the villagers said based on their feelings can only be used as a reference for preliminary judgment, and what experts need is real and scientific data. Wind is closely related to the meteorological department, so the meteorological team immediately decided to conduct a year of meteorological observations in order to obtain accurate data for further analysis. Three observation points were immediately built in Laoye Temple. For scientific researchers, the year was long and busy. The wind is ever-changing. If they want to find the pattern of wind in this invisible air, they cannot relax at all. In this way, for more than 300 days and nights, scientific researchers appeared at the lakeside and nearby hillsides every day, capturing the trajectory of every wind with sweat and hard work. More than 200,000 raw data were finally put in front of the staff of the meteorological team. These data show that the Laoye Temple water area is a rare windy area in Poyang Lake. There are 163 windy days in a year, which means that every two days There will be a day when the wind reaches level 6.
Interview: Director Xiong
This was in October 1985. The wind direction was mainly northerly. Its maximum wind speed was 27.3 meters per second, a level 11 gale.
Subsequently, members of the meteorological team compared these data with the data measured by the Duchang Meteorological Bureau not far away. They found that the annual average wind speed in Laoyemiao waters was higher than that in Duchang County. Much larger, this is basically the same situation the villagers provided.
Interview: Director Xiong
For example, the (annual) average wind speed in Laoye Temple has reached 7.6 seconds meters, which is equivalent to about level 4 to 5. Our measuring station (Duchang Observation Station ), the annual average wind speed is 2.9 to 3.2, which is equivalent to about level 2, which is a difference of three levels.
During this year's work, the team members felt more than once that when they drove the boat in the center of Poyang Lake, it was usually calm and calm, but as soon as the boat entered the waters of Laoye Temple, , the wind speed immediately began to increase, and the ship began to rock continuously. We are also in the Poyang Lake area and at the same time. Why is it that only the waters of Laoye Temple are so windy? Is this related to the unique shape of Poyang Lake? More than once, members of the expedition team picked up maps for analysis. From the map, Poyang Lake looks like an upside-down gourd. At the northern end of this gourd is a narrow water body, and Laoye Temple is located at the southernmost end of this narrow water body. Is the secret of strong winds hidden in this narrow stretch of water? Based on people's life experience, we can know that in an open area, if there is a wind of one or two levels, we may not feel its existence. However, if there are two mountains in the open area to block the wind, then these two mountains will The narrow passage in the middle is the only way for the wind. All the airflow will be concentrated here, which makes the wind that is not very strong speed up when passing through here. This narrow passage is what we usually call the wind outlet. (This section is a two-dimensional animation) And doesn’t the shape of Poyang Lake, a long and narrow body of water, look like a vent? Therefore, the staff conducted detailed measurements of Poyang Lake and obtained a set of rather special data.
In the southern half of Poyang Lake, the widest point reaches 74 kilometers. In other words, the water area of Laoye Temple is the narrowest place in the entire Poyang Lake! Far away from it, to the north of the Yangtze River, is an empty plain. This long and narrow body of water is undoubtedly in the shape of a wind outlet. However, water is different from mountains. Water cannot block the wind passing here. The reason for the formation of the wind vent can only be the mountains. Regarding this point, geologists believe that there are two main reasons for the formation of rivers. One is that the surrounding areas are uplifted to form river channels, and the other is that the middle area is lowered to form river channels. No matter what the reason is, the formation of river channels or lakes must be related to the formation of river channels. It is inextricably linked to the terrain surrounding it. (2D animation) For this reason, members of the geology team decided to investigate the topography and landforms of the Poyang Lake area. If you use the past method of walking on two feet to investigate, it will not only take a long time and be inefficient, but the biggest shortcoming is that you cannot form an overall concept. After research, experts decided to coordinate with relevant departments to conduct a satellite remote sensing photography of the Poyang Lake area, so that the most geological information can be obtained in the shortest time. Satellite remote sensing images are produced as quickly as possible. Ma Zhenxing carefully observed that whether he could find the mountains related to this narrow strip would be the key to finding out the formation of strong winds in this area.
The pictures show that there is a very large hilly area at the southeastern end of this narrow water area. This hilly area is close to the Laoye Temple water area. This has attracted the attention of experts. However, during the actual investigation, the staff found that the highest point of this zone was only 89 meters. Although this height has a certain impact on the wind, it is by no means a key factor in the formation of strong winds. The team members must look for mountains with a certain altitude around this body of water. At this time, everyone's eyes invariably focused on Lushan Mountain, which was only a few kilometers away. In the area of Laoye Temple, the water from five rivers is basically a gathering point. In this place, because the water flows in different directions mix with each other, the direction of the water flow in this place is relatively disordered.
The turbulent water flows collide with each other, forming large and small whirlpools. The impact of these vortices on the hull is different from that of normal water flows. If bad weather is encountered again, the ship will be involved in an accident. The probability is much greater than elsewhere. From this, hydrology experts concluded that wind and waves were only one of the causes of the shipwreck accident, and that the combination of turbulent water flow and strong winds was the root cause of the shipwreck accident. Things are often not as simple as people imagine. Just when experts thought they had found the answer to the mystery of the shipwreck, local fishermen had a completely different statement.
Interview: Yu Wu Di
Generally there are whirlpools in running water, but they are not big. The water whirlpool does not have much impact on us.
It now appears that the conclusion reached by the hydrology team members is exactly the opposite of the personal experience of local fishermen. Did the hydrology experts draw the wrong conclusion, or was there something wrong with the fishermen’s experience? The mystery of the shipwreck in Laoye Temple waters is becoming more and more complicated. What secrets are hidden in this lake? Can the mystery finally be solved with the arrival of experts?
Another conversation with the fishermen began, this time the main target was the whirlpool in the water. Since they are very familiar with the waters in this area, the fishermen certainly don't pay much attention to the whirlpools on the water when there is no wind. However, when strong winds come, the fishermen all come to the shore early. No one can tell clearly how big the whirlpool can be in the lake when the wind blows. However, those who were rescued after falling into the lake told the fishermen what they saw.
Interview: Yu Wu Di
They all said that there were whirlpools where the boat went, and it swirled and sank. They all said that there were whirlpools on the lake.
How much power is needed to suck a large ship with a carrying capacity of hundreds of tons or even thousands of tons into the bottom of the water? The most difficult problem for the hydrology team members is that due to limited conditions, they cannot monitor the water body in the center of the lake when strong winds arrive. Therefore, data on eddies in the lake water cannot be obtained during strong winds. On this point, geological expert Ma Zhenxing has a different view. According to fishermen, the whirlpools in the water are very large when the wind blows. Because of this, they will suck hundreds of tons of freighters to the bottom of the lake. Those whirlpools caused by turbulent water flow can only be large in number, and not single. The vortex couldn't be that big. Could there be another secret at the bottom of the lake? If so, how can we understand the secret? After serious discussion with the group members, Ma Zhenxing decided to take aerial photos again. The difference from last time is that this time we adopted a low-altitude shooting method, and the target was only the water area of Laoye Temple. This shooting is risky. If no new discoveries are made, a lot of energy and scientific research funds will be wasted. Fortunately, however, the color infrared aerial photos taken at low altitude enabled the geological team to make a particularly important discovery.
Interview: Ma Zhenxing
We discovered something. What did we discover? Through this photo, it clearly shows that in the area of Laoye Temple, there is a huge underwater of sand dam.
This is the latest underwater sand dam discovered. It is about 2.5 kilometers long and runs east-west, accounting for more than two-thirds of the total width of the Laoye Temple water area. It is the existence of this sand dam that completely changes the water flow conditions in Laoye Temple. When the north wind reaches the surface of Poyang Lake, big waves will roll southward. At this time, the underwater sand bar will block the water flow, so a powerful vortex will be formed at the bottom of the lake at its southern end. These The impact force exerted on the ship by the vortex is astonishing.
Interview: Ma Zhenxing
Its punching force reaches three times the wave height, and how many tons per square meter, that is, the water in this area of Poyang Lake, the average wave How much can it reach? If it reaches 3 meters, if it reaches 2 meters high, then its punching force can reach 3 times, 6 tons per square meter. At this time, the instantaneous punching force of your ship must reach (per square meter) 6 tons of punching force.
This means that for a ship with a load capacity of 20 tons, the side area of the ship is calculated as 20 square meters, and the impact force of the waves on it reaches 120 tons, which is five times more than the weight of the ship. Such a large impact will inevitably cause the ship to lose control and be involved in a powerful whirlpool. These hidden underwater whirlpools are certainly much more powerful than those small whirlpools caused by turbulent water flow.
However, where did the huge sand dam under Laoye Temple come from? Poyang Lake is such a large area, why does it only come to Laoye Temple? Let's look back at the hilly area next to Laoye Temple. These mountains, large and small, are all made of sand. Whenever a thunderstorm comes, a large amount of sand will be washed away by the rain. Next to it, It is the Laoye Temple waters of Poyang Lake.
Interview: Ma Zhenxing
On the top of our Laoye Temple Mountain, more than 89 meters above sea level, there is a huge sand mountain. This kind of sand mountain rushes directly into Poyang under the action of flowing water. The lake is also oriented east-west, leading directly into Poyang Lake.
At this point, the secrets at the bottom of the lake have finally been revealed, and the arrival of experts in various fields has made the mystery of the shipwreck in the Laoye Temple waters of Poyang Lake increasingly clear. When the north wind blows south, the presence of Lushan Mountain makes this a rare strong wind area, and the airflow begins to turn back after reaching the hilly areas, making the wind direction extremely disordered, which has a considerable impact on sailing. At the same time, water from the five major rivers flows into Poyang Lake and meets in the waters of Laoye Temple. The currents are strong and turbulent, which makes it worse for ships that are already traveling in strong winds. What is even more fatal is that the hidden sand bars at the bottom of the lake are formed under the action of strong winds. Powerful underwater whirlpool. Irregular strong winds, turbulent currents, and huge underwater sand bars have become invisible enemies for ships passing by. If strong winds hit, the ships in the lake will be in danger and there will be nothing they can do.
The power of nature exceeds people's imagination. People cannot and do not have the power to carve nature into what we need. On the contrary, these strange natural phenomena will make people more curious about nature. But wouldn’t the ship capsizing accident be inevitable because of this? In fact, people are working hard for this every day.
Interview: County Party Committee
We have achieved the expected three-day weather forecast, publicized fishermen, broadcasted, and also sent messages at 7 a.m. every day. At 7 o'clock in the evening, that is, 19 o'clock, information will be released to the fishermen on time.
Management of the waterway has continued for decades. Strengthening the inspection of ships can ensure the ship's ability to withstand wind and waves. In addition, several newly built safe havens will also make it easier for passing ships to dock in time when they are in danger. Coupled with the continuous improvement of people's own quality, the number of shipwrecks in Laoye Temple waters has dropped a lot.
Interview: Secretary Wen
In recent years, with the scientific mastery of seafarers and the improvement of safety awareness of the entire society, water safety accidents should be said to have dropped significantly. Judging from my more than 20 years of working experience, there are obvious differences between the 1980s and 1990s.
Only when the problem is found can measures be taken to ensure the safety of the boat. But the matter did not end there. In the eyes of the fishermen living in Laoye Temple, the mystery of the shipwreck has not been completely solved. This mystery is still an unsolved knot in their hearts.
Interview: Yu Wu Di
I learned from my father and my grandfather that three large ships sank in this place, one containing porcelain, small bowls, plates, and teapots Ah wait, it's sinking a little above the door of my house. Now let's calculate it, it's one thousand to two thousand tons.
The other two ships that sank here were also cargo ships with a carrying capacity of thousands of tons. Although the fishermen were accustomed to sunken ships, what puzzled them was that after these ships sank, It was never recovered.
Interview: Fisherman
They all sank here and no one was fished out.
Has anyone caught it?
I fished it out, but I don’t know where it went. I haven’t found it yet, nothing.
For ships that have sunk in the past 20 to 30 years, relevant departments will quickly organize salvage after they sink. Therefore, there is no problem that the sunken ship cannot be found. In the past, those small boats that were overturned by wind and waves were often Made of wood, these planks will float on the water after the storm passes, with the exception of these large sunken ships. Have they been hiding somewhere at the bottom of the lake, or are they really no longer in the lake?
What makes people feel even more strange is that when the ships with thousands of tons just sank to the bottom of the water, those ships were still there, because after the ships sank to the bottom, fish would make nests in the ships, so , many local fishermen went to fish in the large boats that sank at the bottom of the water, and some even caught some items on the boats.
Interview: Yu Wu Di
My father also grew up on the water. He is very good at swimming and diving. He is very good. He is alone. There are several families here who engage in fishing. Let's drive a small boat. My father went from the bottom of the water. I didn't know it was a porcelain boat. He went to the bottom of the cabin and touched a lot. He touched a small bowl, a small pot, a small plate, and a tea cup.
A few years later, some divers from outside came to this area of water for various purposes and began to salvage underwater. To everyone's surprise, the divers found nothing.
Interview: Angkor Angkor
The diver went into the water. He was wearing different clothes. It looked strange to us children. Listening to the adults, he was a diver. Go into the water. , touching things on the sunken ship, but I didn’t see anything touched here.
According to local villagers, several groups of divers came later, but they did not find any sunken ships. The several large sunken ships that the elders saw with their own eyes mysteriously disappeared. As time goes by, the legends about the shipwreck here become more and more magical. Some people say that it was buried by the sand under the water, while others say that it was washed away by the current. There is even an even more bizarre theory that it sank here. The big ship went back to the past through the time tunnel. These statements aroused the curiosity of scientific researchers. So, were those sunken ships buried under sand? The villagers' claims were rejected by experts. Laoye Temple is the deepest point in the entire Poyang Lake waters, with a water depth of about 18 meters, and a sunken ship of over a thousand tons should be more than ten meters high. If quicksand buried the sunken ship more than ten years later, then the entire There will be more than ten meters of sandy layer accumulated at the bottom of the river, and the water level of the river should rise by more than ten meters. But in fact, the water level in the Poyang Lake Laoye Temple waters has not changed much. This inference was rejected. So, are they still hiding somewhere at the bottom of the lake? Han Lixian has been engaged in digging wells to find water for many years. Before each well is dug, he must use measuring instruments to detect underground elements. During many years of exploration work, Han Lixian discovered that there were many limestones on the land in the Laoye Temple area. This discovery led him to connect the limestone with the legend of the Laoye Temple shipwreck.
Interview: Han Lixian
I often encounter limestone, and sometimes I see the development of limestone, which contains a lot of calcium. Judging from the inclination of the rock formations at the bottom of the lake, it gradually extends towards Poyang Lake. From this point of view, there may be a large amount of limestone in Poyang Lake.
The composition of limestone is calcium carbonate, and its characteristic is that it is easily soluble in water. If there is indeed a large amount of limestone at the bottom of Poyang Lake, it will be washed away by the water flow after it dissolves in water.
Interview: Han Lixian
Because it was washed away in the water, so according to my inference, there is a huge cave underneath it.
This statement is recognized by Wang Tingshan, who has been engaged in geological research for many years. He believes that if there is a cave at the bottom of the lake, and these sunken ships happen to sink near the entrance of the cave, many years later, as long as the ship is slightly moved by the current, it may fall into the cave.
Interview: Wang Tingshan
In the washing sink at your home, when washing dishes, a lot of water pours down, and everything flows into that (sewer). When the boat reaches that place, it will also It will flow into the hole, and the boat will no longer be found on the ground. Go down to the cave, inside the big cave. Of course, this cave will be connected to other caves. It is very likely (along) the underground river to go to other places, so you can't find it in the lake.
This statement is true if there is indeed a large amount of limestone at the bottom of the lake. However, in response to this statement, researchers from the Jiangxi Provincial Geological Survey Institute discovered through drilling work that most of the rock formations at the bottom of the lake are not limestone.
Interview: Ma Zhenxing
We have done some drilling work. If we drill down, most of the holes will be drilled through twenty or thirty meters of the lake bottom. Reaching the red rock formation is red sand shale.
Then, according to Ma Zhenxing, if all the water under the water is red sand shale, it is impossible to form a large area of caves.
Interview: Ma Zhenxing
Why are caves not formed? Because the main component of our red sand shale is silica, silica has a relatively strong ability to resist weathering and erosion. The effect of water on it is not as easy to dissolve and chemically change as calcium carbonate. Form a cave.
Since drilling work cannot be carried out on a large scale for the time being, it is still unknown whether there is a large amount of limestone at the bottom of the lake, whether there are caves under the water, and whether the sunken ship is still at the bottom of the lake. , remains an unsolved mystery.
Interview: Yin Guosheng
If it is red sand shale, there should be no theory that there is a cave under the water. Of course, there is another possibility, it is a kind of limestone, (continued) ) If limestone exists, there may also be an underwater cave in this area, but what exactly this base is requires further investigation and investigation. It is still difficult to draw a conclusion.
Exploring the infinite mysteries of nature has always been mankind's uninterrupted desire. Perhaps one day, the mystery of the shipwreck in this waters will finally be solved, but for now, they still need to continue working. Because our exploration today is precisely to make life more secure tomorrow.