The Southern Ocean - East Australian current
Locations
The Southern Ocean
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Introduction
The Southern Ocean, which circles the globe without being blocked by land, is home to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the longest of the world's ocean currents. Also known as the "channel", it connects the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean basins and exerts a powerful influence over the Earth's climate. The ACC carries 150 times more water around Antarctica than the flow of all the world's rivers combined.
East Australian current
Overview
Detailed research is being carried out on how the Eastern Australian current is affecting the sea near Tasmania. This current is an oceanic circulation system that transports warm water from the Equator down the eastern coast of Australia.
Underwater currents have previously only been monitored on the surface of the water. However, scientists have now developed an underwater glider that can monitor them at depth, from within the current. It collects salinity, oxygen levels and temperature. Knowing these will help identify the East Australian current and enable scientists to find out how far south and how deep it is reaching.
| Importance: | Knowing how currents in the Southern Ocean currents are changing is significant because they could also influence climate patterns and sea temperatures around the world. |
| Dive category: | A scientific dive to enable scientists to verify the data the glider sent back to their computer systems. |
| Access: | A specialist scientific dive. Access to test the aqua glider is not open to the general public. |
Interesting for
- Using cutting edge technology to monitor the oceans
- News and information on the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS)
- Introducing IMOS
- Satellite photography of the East Australian current
- Nasa provides the imagery found on the Visible Earth website.
- East Australian current
- Ocean currents of the world
- Wikipedia's summary of the major ocean currents affecting waters around the globe.
- Ocean current
BBC related content
- Oceans presenter biography: Paul Rose
- Oceans presenter biography: Tooni Mahto
- Oceans image gallery: The Southern Ocean
- BBC News: Robot glider harvests ocean heat
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