Which ocean water is the coldest

Sarah Purkey In: Science on Msnbc.com By: OurAmazingPlanet Staff The coldest deep ocean water that flows around Antarctica in the Southern Ocean has been mysteriously disappearing at a high rate over the last few decades, scientists have found. This mass of water is called Antarctic Bottom Water, which is formed in a few distinct locations around Antarctica, where seawater is cooled by the overlying air and made saltier by ice formation (which leaves the salt behind in the unfrozen water). The cold, salty water is denser than the water around it, causing it to sink to the sea floor where it spreads northward, filling most of the deep ocean around the world as it slowly mixes with warmer waters above it. "In every oceanographic survey repeated around the Southern Ocean since about the 1980s, Antarctic Bottom Water has been shrinking at a similar mean rate, giving us confidence that this surprisingly large contraction is robust," said lead author of the study Sarah Purkey, a graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle.

• • • News • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Specialists • • • • • • • • • • • • Coronavirus • • • Weather • • • • • • • • • • • • • Sports • • • • • • • • • • • Business • • • • • • • • Opinion • • • • Consumer • • • • • • • • • Health • • • • • • • • • Life • • • • • • • • • • • • • Out & About • • • • • • • • • Video • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (CNN) — Deep ocean water in the Antarctic is heating up and shrinking, with potentially far-reaching consequences for climate change and deep ocean ecosystems, according to a report. “Antarctic bottom water” is the coldest, saltiest water on the planet. These waters play a crucial role in the ocean’s ability to act as a buffer against climate change by absorbing excess heat and human-caused carbon pollution. They also circulate nutrients across the ocean. But in the Weddell Sea, along the northern coast of Antarctica, this vital water mass is in decline, due to long-term changes in winds and sea ice, according to the study published Monday by the British Antarctic Survey. Scientists used decades of data taken by ships as well as from satellites to assess the volume, temperature and saltiness of this slice of deep Antarctic Ocean. “Some of these sections were first visited as far back as 1989, making them some of the most comprehensively sampled regions in the Weddell Sea,” Povl Abrahamsen, a physical oceanographer at BAS and co-author, said in a statement. They found that the volume of the cold bottom waters has shrunk by more th...

Temperature The oceans tend to be stratified, the principal factor being temperature; the The surface zone, where temperature variations are perceptible, is between 330 and 1,000 Ocean temperatures in the North Pacific tend to be higher than those in the South Pacific because the ratio of land to sea areas is larger in the Northern Hemisphere and because The mean position of the thermal equator (the line on the The salinity patterns of the surface waters of the Pacific are influenced largely by wind and by precipitation and evaporation patterns. The waters within the belt of calm and variable winds near the Equator have lower salinities than those in the trade-wind belts. In the equatorial belt, relatively large amounts of rain fall and little evaporation occurs, both because of The highest surface salinities in the open Pacific occur in the southeastern area, where they reach 37 parts per thousand; in the corresponding trade-wind belt in the North Pacific, the maximum salinity seldom reaches 36 parts per thousand. Pacific waters that approach 60° S have salinities of less than about 34 parts; the lowest salinities—less than about 32 parts—occur in the extreme northern zone of the Pacific. The heavy rainfall of the western Pacific, associated with the monsoons of the region, gives rise to relatively low salinities. Seasonal variations are significant in the western Pacific as well as in the eastern Pacific, caused by seasonal changes in Hydrology Surface currents Pacific t...

The Antarctic bottom water ( AABW) is a type of The major significance of Antarctic bottom water is that it is the coldest bottom water, giving it a significant influence on the movement of the world's oceans. Antarctic bottom water also has a high oxygen content relative to the rest of the oceans' deep waters. This is due to the oxidation of deteriorating organic content in the rest of the deep oceans. Antarctic bottom water has thus been considered the ventilation of the deep ocean. [ citation needed] Formation and circulation [ ] Antarctic bottom water is created in part due to the major overturning of ocean water. Antarctic bottom water is formed in the Evidence indicates that Antarctic bottom water production through the Holocene (last 10,000years) is not in a steady-state condition; Atlantic Ocean [ ] The Vema Channel, a deep trough in the 31°18′S 39°24′W / 31.3°S 39.4°W / -31.3; -39.4, is an important conduit for Antarctic Bottom Water and In the Guiana Basin, west of 40°W, the sloping topography and the strong, eastward flowing deep western boundary current might prevent the Antarctic bottom water from flowing west: thus it has to turn north at the eastern slope of the Indian Ocean [ ] In the Climate change [ ] [ citation needed] Potential for AABW Disruption [ ] Due to the cold temperatures and high density of AABW, changes coming from increased surface water temperatures and increased ice melt can impact how the water flows. While the freshening of the AABW has c...

• • • • Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the coldest ocean on Earth. It is also the smallest and shallowest of the world’s five oceans. The average depth of the Arctic Ocean is only about 3,953 feet (1,200 meters), and its total area is about 5,440,000 square miles (14,056,000 square kilometers). The Arctic Ocean is located in the Northern Hemisphere and is mostly surrounded by the continents of Europe and Asia. Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the coldest ocean on Earth. With an average depth of 3,339 meters (10,955 feet), it is also the deepest ocean. The Atlantic Ocean covers an area of about 106,460,000 square kilometers (41,100,000 square miles), making it the second-largest ocean after the Pacific Ocean. Indian Ocean Although all oceans contain some areas of cold water, the Indian Ocean is generally considered to be the coldest of the three major oceans. This is due to a number of factors, including its location near the South Pole, its relatively small size, and its lack of currents. The Indian Ocean is located entirely within the Southern Hemisphere and thus its waters are generally colder than those in the Northern Hemisphere. Additionally, the Indian Ocean is relatively small compared to other oceans, such as the Pacific Ocean, which means that there is less area for solar radiation to heat up. Finally, the Indian Ocean has very few currents, which means that cold water from the depths is not constantly being mixed with warmer surface waters. Pacific Ocean Th...

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Temperature The oceans tend to be stratified, the principal factor being temperature; the The surface zone, where temperature variations are perceptible, is between 330 and 1,000 Ocean temperatures in the North Pacific tend to be higher than those in the South Pacific because the ratio of land to sea areas is larger in the Northern Hemisphere and because The mean position of the thermal equator (the line on the The salinity patterns of the surface waters of the Pacific are influenced largely by wind and by precipitation and evaporation patterns. The waters within the belt of calm and variable winds near the Equator have lower salinities than those in the trade-wind belts. In the equatorial belt, relatively large amounts of rain fall and little evaporation occurs, both because of The highest surface salinities in the open Pacific occur in the southeastern area, where they reach 37 parts per thousand; in the corresponding trade-wind belt in the North Pacific, the maximum salinity seldom reaches 36 parts per thousand. Pacific waters that approach 60° S have salinities of less than about 34 parts; the lowest salinities—less than about 32 parts—occur in the extreme northern zone of the Pacific. The heavy rainfall of the western Pacific, associated with the monsoons of the region, gives rise to relatively low salinities. Seasonal variations are significant in the western Pacific as well as in the eastern Pacific, caused by seasonal changes in Hydrology Surface currents Pacific t...

Sarah Purkey In: Science on Msnbc.com By: OurAmazingPlanet Staff The coldest deep ocean water that flows around Antarctica in the Southern Ocean has been mysteriously disappearing at a high rate over the last few decades, scientists have found. This mass of water is called Antarctic Bottom Water, which is formed in a few distinct locations around Antarctica, where seawater is cooled by the overlying air and made saltier by ice formation (which leaves the salt behind in the unfrozen water). The cold, salty water is denser than the water around it, causing it to sink to the sea floor where it spreads northward, filling most of the deep ocean around the world as it slowly mixes with warmer waters above it. "In every oceanographic survey repeated around the Southern Ocean since about the 1980s, Antarctic Bottom Water has been shrinking at a similar mean rate, giving us confidence that this surprisingly large contraction is robust," said lead author of the study Sarah Purkey, a graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle.

• Acèh • Адыгэбзэ • Адыгабзэ • Afrikaans • Alemannisch • አማርኛ • अंगिका • Ænglisc • Аԥсшәа • العربية • Aragonés • অসমীয়া • Asturianu • अवधी • Avañe'ẽ • Авар • Azərbaycanca • تۆرکجه • Basa Bali • বাংলা • Bân-lâm-gú • Башҡортса • Беларуская • Беларуская (тарашкевіца) • भोजपुरी • Bikol Central • Български • Boarisch • Bosanski • Brezhoneg • Буряад • Català • Чӑвашла • Cebuano • Čeština • ChiShona • Corsu • Cymraeg • Dansk • الدارجة • Deutsch • Dolnoserbski • डोटेली • Eesti • Ελληνικά • Эрзянь • Español • Esperanto • Estremeñu • Euskara • فارسی • Fiji Hindi • Føroyskt • Français • Frysk • Gaeilge • Gaelg • Gàidhlig • Galego • ГӀалгӀай • 贛語 • ગુજરાતી • 客家語/Hak-kâ-ngî • 한국어 • Hawaiʻi • Հայերեն • हिन्दी • Hornjoserbsce • Hrvatski • Ido • Igbo • Ilokano • Bahasa Indonesia • Interlingua • Ирон • IsiXhosa • Íslenska • Italiano • עברית • Jawa • Kabɩyɛ • ಕನ್ನಡ • Kapampangan • Къарачай-малкъар • ქართული • Қазақша • Kernowek • Kiswahili • Kotava • Kreyòl ayisyen • Kriyòl gwiyannen • Kurdî • Кыргызча • Ladin • Latina • Latviešu • Лезги • Lietuvių • Limburgs • Lingua Franca Nova • Livvinkarjala • La .lojban. • Lombard • Magyar • मैथिली • Македонски • Malagasy • മലയാളം • मराठी • მარგალური • Bahasa Melayu • Minangkabau • 閩東語 / Mìng-dĕ̤ng-ngṳ̄ • Mirandés • Монгол • မြန်မာဘာသာ • Nederlands • नेपाली • नेपाल भाषा • 日本語 • Нохчийн • Nordfriisk • Norsk bokmål • Norsk nynorsk • Occitan • Олык марий • Oromoo • Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча • ਪੰਜਾਬੀ • پنجابی • ပအိုဝ်ႏဘာႏသာႏ • پښتو • Перем коми • ភាសាខ្មែរ • Pi...

The Antarctic bottom water ( AABW) is a type of The major significance of Antarctic bottom water is that it is the coldest bottom water, giving it a significant influence on the movement of the world's oceans. Antarctic bottom water also has a high oxygen content relative to the rest of the oceans' deep waters. This is due to the oxidation of deteriorating organic content in the rest of the deep oceans. Antarctic bottom water has thus been considered the ventilation of the deep ocean. [ citation needed] Formation and circulation [ ] Antarctic bottom water is created in part due to the major overturning of ocean water. Antarctic bottom water is formed in the Evidence indicates that Antarctic bottom water production through the Holocene (last 10,000years) is not in a steady-state condition; Atlantic Ocean [ ] The Vema Channel, a deep trough in the 31°18′S 39°24′W / 31.3°S 39.4°W / -31.3; -39.4, is an important conduit for Antarctic Bottom Water and In the Guiana Basin, west of 40°W, the sloping topography and the strong, eastward flowing deep western boundary current might prevent the Antarctic bottom water from flowing west: thus it has to turn north at the eastern slope of the Indian Ocean [ ] In the Climate change [ ] [ citation needed] Potential for AABW Disruption [ ] Due to the cold temperatures and high density of AABW, changes coming from increased surface water temperatures and increased ice melt can impact how the water flows. While the freshening of the AABW has c...