Do the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans Mix?

Live science, the peaceful and Atlantic oceans are indeed mixed, but at different speeds, and more quickly in certain places than others depending on weather conditions and turbulence.

Each ocean has its own composition

Indeed, each ocean has its own composition. Thus, the water from the Atlantic is more salty and therefore more dense than that of the Pacific, which receives more rain. “” “It's like imagining looking at a spiral of cream dissolve in the coffee: liquids mix, but slowly”. It is the storms and the waves that blur the line, in the same way as a spoon, stirred vigorously, could do it in a cup of milk coffee.

Water can also mix in the depths of the ocean : As Casimir de Lavergne explains, researcher at the University of the Sorbonne and at the CNRS interviewed on LiveScience, daily tides cause water from back to back on the Backless seabed, which causes sufficient turbulence for the mixture to occur.

There is a difference between “mixture” and “exchange” of water

As Nadín Ramírez reminds us, the two terms have a very particular meaning for oceanologists: The mixture means that waters are irreversibly transformed. The exchange As for him can occur between two bodies of water, without necessarily provoking a real mixture of their properties. Thus, thanks to the global currents, the Pacific and the Atlantic regularly exchange water. The different layers of water constituted by the ocean are called “Clines”.

Can climate change have consequences on the exchange of water, and on marine life?

Due to the climate change and the melting of glaciers, the oceanologists have noted for a few years a slowdown in the exchange of water. These changes, explain scientists, should modify the way in which oceans recycle oxygen and nutrients, and have an impact on marine life. However, tempers Casimir de Lavergne, the oceans will never stop mixing or completely exchanging water: “As long as there are winds and tides, there will be mixture and currents. “

>> Read also: What is the difference between a sea and an ocean?

Source : LiveScience