Funafuti
This post is a revised version of...
Precursor originally posted Jun.29.2017, moving to the sea.
Space is hostile to biological organisms, Earth is a relative wonderland, including its most extreme environments. The following idea has fascinated me for years now, so here it is again, presented as fresh, for saidit readers.
Colonize the Ocean Atolls
There are several reasons why atolls would make good locations for human habitation, but have not been exploited yet.
1 very limited (surface) area, remote, no fresh water, in tropical heat zones, and exposed to seasonal cyclones, but...
2 their lagoons are mostly protected from big waves by narrow rings of land (or motus), and quite shallow compared to the surrounding ocean
3 so far, there is no heavy-hand of government interference, these are uninhabited and extremely remote locations
atolls, tourtopia great arial photos!
How to make the uninhabited habited
Make concrete spheres (aka big balls, 'bb'), about 10m diameter, with connection docks so they can be linked together, 7 in a cell on the same plane. That's each one connected to 6 sisters spaced 60° apart. They would ideally be situated in water no more than 30m deep, and usually floating on tethers, just beneath the surface, but could drop lower if danger approaches. This is not going to be safe from a bomb attack, but ok for storms and big waves.
About making concrete spheres
How to mold them in a single piece? A large tourbillon with a metal shell instead of a balance wheel. Dump in a measured amount of fiberglass reinforced concrete slurry, close the hatch, and start the gimbals. When concrete has set, pull out the (heavy) form, let it cure a few days, remove the shell, go inside and install a frame for future partitions... connect balls together forming a flexible floating network, and submerge to near-surface." (Drilling into bottom for anchorage and forced submersion might be required.) Construction to be done on location.
1 Build a pier that spans the outer reef and the land ring, terminating with a hoist (there must be one at each end).
2 A collection of barges are constructed in the lagoon to provide floor space for work, while letting land be unspoiled.
3 As bb's are finished, ready for floating, offload from barge, connect to array in the bay (lagoon).
4 Designs would be ever-sensitive to environmental damage, so the constructions are minimally invasive.
5 Run fiber optic cables for secure communications between various atolls of an archipelago.
6 Each community would need its own transport service, by boat (oceanic 'space ship').
for examples,
Kiribati,
Tuamotu,
Cook Isl,
Micronesia, etc.
Not looking at rocky, inhabited groups
Society Islands
On the society which inhabits these conjectured arrays of big balls (bb)
What would the people do for a living? Internet and export of ideas, mostly conceptual mind work, because the remoteness makes materials extra expensive. However, if there was sufficient value added, say into small hi-tech items, or artwork, (ex. fancy watches, research, or agriculture of high-value tropical crops, see more about this in study notes). Some of the employments would be for maintenance of the array such as food production.
The surface of the array might have greenhouse constructions able to withstand severe storms. These structures would not be cheap. Sorry, we are discussing constructions meant to last for decades or centuries. One nice feature of atolls, they are always in tropical seas because coral does not grow in temperate/arctic zones. But in tropics there are cyclones, and it is hot.
Since bb arrays will be miles across, what about transport? For one thing, since work and home should be very close, there won't be much need to travel atoll. But a nice enhancement would be some transport tubes that pass between bbs and have each end terminating on a bb.
As for power, geothermal might be possible; all these islands were once volcanos. If that does not work, my next favorite is Thorium liquid salt reactor. Wind turbines are no go because of the hazard to birds, and solar is not going to be practical for the amount of power needed, the space available required for agriculture, and the corrosive salty spray, high winds. There might be small solar arrangements attached to kites or balloons. Future of Wind Power? Kites 7 min.
I want strict rules about how to behave toward the island we call home. All local lifeforms should be considered sacred. Love our neighbors. Respect and admire them, NOT for exploitation. These islands should be treated as World Heritage sites, which is what they are, if not officially, they are so in spirit. Here is a short list of UNESCO sites that are atolls: Seychelles, Solomon Isl, Palau, Vanuatu, USA.
No fishing within 12 miles, but snorkeling/ scuba ok, access rationed. Take only pictures, leave only bubbles. No waste material dumped, all such to be recycled within the bb structures. No modifications to the atoll itself, with possible exception of dredging the bay. I know that seems drastic, but it might be necessary, and should be done carefully if at all. There are bound to be compromises with nature required to install habitations. Sand from the lagoon might be used to make concrete.
Of course creating these atoll havens (heavens?) would be expensive, but I suggest, less challenging than creating colonies on Mars. The space available is in the thousands of square miles... enough room for many decades of habitat construction. Just one atoll 20 mi. diameter would have over 300 sq. mi. inside the ring.
Video Explorations
Atolls of the South Pacific 12 min.
Chagos Archip. Indian Ocean 25 min.
French Polynesia Tuamotus, black pearls 8 min.
Palmerston Atoll (Cook Islands) 13 min.
Exploring Tonga 12 min.
UNDERWATER VEHICLES 10 min.
Secrets of Melanesia 12 min
Breakaway Civ. 7; more big balls
study notes
High-value agriculture on floating supports
avoiding disease: Gros Michel banana
tropical crops threatened blight
Do You Have What It Takes To Live On Mars?
there doesn't seem to be anything here