Researchers have finally figured out how deep and mid-depth Antarctic Ocean waters are mixed, the phenomenon has a large impact on the global climate.
"[The researchers] found that sea water mixes dramatically as it rushes over undersea mountains in Drake Passage - the channel between the southern tip of South America and the Antarctic continent. Mixing of water layers in the oceans is crucial in regulating the Earth's climate and ocean currents," a University of Exeter press release reported.
Climate models have always lacked information on how sea-waters mix. Now the models will be able to make more accurate predictions on how climate will behave in the future.
The ocean's churning waters control the distribution of carbon dioxide throughout the deep sea, and determine how much of the atmospheric substance it will take in. The ocean has the ability to "suck up" all of the carbon humans have released into the atmosphere by storing it in the deep waters.
How the water mixes can also affect how much heat moves towards the poles, which could have a drastic influence on climate.
The Researchers made the groundbreaking discovery by releasing small amounts of an "inert chemical tracer" into some of the world's most treacherous waters. The method allowed the team to measure mixing in the Southern Ocean by tracing the chemical's journey through the Drake Passage over the course of several years.
They found that vertical mixing was almost non-existent in the Pacific Ocean, but when the water passed over the giant underwater mountains and through the Drake Passage it started to "mix dramatically."
"A thorough understanding of the process of ocean mixing is crucial to our understanding of the overall climate system. Our study indicates that virtually all the mixing in the Southern Ocean occurs in Drake Passage and at a few other undersea mountain locations. Our study will provide climate scientists with the detailed information about the oceans that they currently lack," Professor Andrew Watson of the University of Exeter, said.