Undersea Mountains Provide Crucial Piece in Climate Prediction Puzzle

A mystery in the ocean near Antarctica has been solved and published in the Journal Nature, they found that seawater mixes dramatically when it rushes over undersea mountains; this mixing is necessary to regulate Earth’s climate and Ocean currents. This takes place in the Drake Passage, which is a channel between the southern tip of South America and the Antarctic. The researchers at multiple Universities and Associations have provided more insight for climate models, making it now possible to provide long-term climate projections. The mixing of the seawater was measured by releasing small amounts of an inert chemical tracer and tracking for several years to see how quickly the ocean mixed. 

There was virtually no mixing in the Pacific but dramatic mixing in the Drake Passage.

The researchers concluded that most of the mixing done in the Southern Ocean occurs in the Drake Passage and at other various undersea mountains. 

Ocean mixing transfers carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the deep sea, controlling the rate at which the ocean absorbs CO₂.  Over hundreds of years this process will remove much of the carbon dioxide we humans release. Ocean mixing can also enable the ocean to transfer heat to the poles. Scientists believe that the carbon dioxide present during the ice ages may have been a result of slower Ocean mixing, and although the reasons are unclear this further emphasizes the link between the climate and ocean mixing.