Colossal Underwater Mountains Mix the Cold Antarctica Waters with the Warmer Water Above Puzzles are often solved and when they are solved, it seems the causes were so simple and why no one thought about them before. The mountainous terrain which is buried beneath Drake Passage, the waterway separating the South American landmass and Antarctica is responsible for ocean mixing in the region. Mountainous terrain buried beneath Drake Passage, the waterway separating South America and Antarctica, may be responsible for much of the ocean mixing in the region. The climate of the world depends a lot on the ocean circulation which in turn depends upon the churning of waters in the Southern Ocean. Andrew Watson, an oceanographer at the University of Exeter in England, said, “Our study indicates that virtually all the mixing in the Southern Ocean occurs in Drake Passage and at a few other undersea mountain locations. Our study will provide climate scientists with the detailed information about the oceans that they currently lack.” The findings finally solved the riddle of how the ocean waters mixed near Antarctica and the details were published in the journal Nature on Wednesday. It is a known fact that colder water is denser and heavier than the warm water which is lighter. The cold water from the depths of the Southern Ocean near Antarctica had to mix with the warmer water above. However what was happening in the middle depths of the ocean was not known. A tracer was added and it showed that there was no vertical mixing of the waters in the Pacific. The water passed instead over the mountainous ocean floor through the narrow continental gap known as the Drake Passage and the water began to mix. The churning of the ocean waters can influence the long term climate patterns. Knowing the exact path of the mixing of waters of the ocean can give a better understanding of the world climate patterns. It will also help to predict the weather patterns in a better and accurate way. The mixing of the oceans also helps in the transfer of heat to the poles. pentagonpost/colossal-underwater-mountains-mix-cold-antarctica-waters-warmer-water/83412105
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 21:06:26 +0000
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