Southern Ocean
hideThe Southern Ocean, also known as the Great Southern Ocean, the Antarctic Ocean and the South Polar Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean south of 60° S latitude. The International Hydrographic Organization has designated the Southern Ocean as an oceanic division encircling Antarctica. Geographers disagree on the Southern Ocean's northern boundary or even its existence (see below), sometimes considering the waters part of the South Pacific, South Atlantic, and Indian Oceans instead.
Some scientists consider the Antarctic Convergence, an ocean zone which fluctuates seasonally, as separating the Southern Ocean from other oceans, rather than 60° S. This ocean zone is where cold, northward flowing waters from the Antarctic mix with warmer sub-Antarctic waters.
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) regards the Southern Ocean as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions and the latest-defined one. The IHO promulgated the decision on its existence in 2000, though many mariners have long regarded the term as traditional. The Southern Ocean appeared in the IHO's Limits of Oceans and Seas second edition (1937), disappeared from the third edition (1957), and resurfaced in the fourth edition (not yet[update] formally adopted due to a number of unresolved disputes, including the lodgement of a reservation by Australia). This change reflects the importance placed by oceanographers on ocean currents.[clarification needed]
For more information about Southern Ocean, read the full article at
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News tagged with southern ocean
Ozone hole reduces atmospheric CO2 uptake in the Southern Ocean
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jun 24, 2009 |
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Does ozone have an impact on the ocean's role as a "carbon sink"? Yes, according to researchers from France. Using original simulations, they have demonstrated that the hole in the ozone layer reduces atmospheric carbon uptake ...
Ocean carbon: A dent in the iron hypothesis
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 06, 2009 |
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Oceanographers Jim Bishop and Todd Wood of the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have measured the fate of carbon particles originating in plankton blooms in the Southern Ocean, ...
Crossing the icy unknown, hunting climate clues
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 21, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (29) |
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(AP) -- On the 27th day of their trek, a dozen "black specks" of humanity crawling across Antarctica's vast white silence, Lou Albershardt heard a sound she'd never heard in two decades on the ice.
Wind shifts may stir CO2 from Antarctic depths
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 12, 2009 |
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Natural releases of carbon dioxide from the Southern Ocean due to shifting wind patterns could have amplified global warming at the end of the last ice age--and could be repeated as manmade warming proceeds, ...
Ocean islands fuel productivity and carbon sequestration through natural iron fertilization
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jan 30, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (4) |
2
An experiment to study the effects of naturally deposited iron in the Southern Ocean has filled in a key piece of the puzzle surrounding iron's role in locking atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) in the ocean. The research, ...
Southern Ocean resistant to changing winds
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 08, 2008 |
4.3 / 5 (10) |
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Intensifying winds in the Southern Ocean have had little influence on the strength of the Southern Ocean circulation and therefore its ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to a study published in ...
Southern Ocean seals dive deep for climate data
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 11, 2008 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Elephant seals are helping scientists overcome a critical blind-spot in their ability to detect change in Southern Ocean circulation and sea ice production and its influence on global climate.
