The rare phenomenon, called a polynya, is twice the size of New Jersey
Scientists have solved the mystery of how a hole in Antarctic sea ice twice the size of New Jersey formed eight years ago.
The rare phenomenon, called a polynya, which covers an area of about 78,000 square kilometers, was first discovered in 1974 and persisted for the next two years until the hole closed.
The hole appeared again in 2016 and 2017 with scientists looking to solve the mystery and explain the causes of the phenomenon as this time it appeared far from the coast.
Researchers at the University of Southampton discovered that the cause was actually a combination of ocean currents, wind and rising salt levels in the water that melted the sea ice.
Scientists named the opening the Maud Rise polynya in the 1970s after the seamount that lies beneath it in the Weddell Sea.
Polynyas usually occur on sea ice off the Antarctic coast every year, but it is unusual for them to form hundreds of miles away in the open ocean where the sea is thousands of feet deep.
The researchers set out to unravel how the polynya formed so far offshore using remotely sensed sea ice maps, data from marine animals and a computer-generated model of the ocean.
The results showed that the current moving around the Maud Rise seamount in the Weddell Sea created turbulent eddies – a reverse current – that moved the salt to the surface of the sea.
Once the salt reached the surface, a process called Ekman convection occurred, which moves the water at a 90-degree angle to the direction of the wind, making it easier for the salt to mix with the heat at the surface and melt the ice.
The researchers hypothesized that polar cyclones passing through the region could have made the Ekman transport even stronger, bringing salt to the surface.
Source: Skai
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