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Ross Sea, Antarctic Hope Spot

Map of Antarctica

Most people will probably never travel across the Southern Ocean either by ship or plane to the massive southern continent of Antarctica that anchors the South Pole. The Antarctica continent, drifted with tectonic plates into its current position between 30 to 60 million years ago (Ivany, et al., 2008). Once the continent was in place the cold Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) encircled it, and the land cooled and ice accumulated eventually covering most of the land to a depth of several thousand feet. As the continent cooled, so did the surrounding Southern Ocean, to a temperature several degrees colder than any other. The chill waters of the ACC separate the Southern Ocean from the slightly warmer waters to the north.…

Posted in Antarctica, ocean acidification, Richard Aronson, Ross Sea, Southern Ocean, sub-Antarctic king crab, sylvia earle, Sylvia Earle Alliance |

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