the southern ocean became a thing in the 1770s.
the southern ocean became a thing in the 1770s.
when did the southern ocean become a thing?
the 1770s
by way of his voyages in the 1770s, captain james cook proved that waters encompassed the southern latitudes of the globe. since then, geographers have disagreed on the southern ocean's northern boundary or even existence, considering the waters as various parts of the pacific, atlantic, and indian oceans, instead. however, according to commodore john leech of the international hydrographic organization (iho), recent oceanographic research has discovered the importance of southern circulation, and the term "southern ocean" has been used to define the body of water which lies south of the northern limit of that circulation. this remains the current official policy of the iho, since a 2000 revision of its definitions including the southern ocean as the waters south of the 60th parallel has not yet been adopted. others regard the seasonally-fluctuating antarctic convergence as the natural boundary.
southern ocean
the southern ocean is the largest hnlc region in the global ocean. the surface waters of the southern ocean have been widely identified as being rich in macronutrients despite low phytoplankton stocks. iron deposited in the north atlantic is incorporated into north atlantic deep water and is transported to the southern ocean via thermohaline circulation. eventually mixing with the antarctic circumpolar water, upwelling provides iron and macronutrients to the southern ocean surface waters. therefore, iron inputs and primary production in the southern ocean are sensitive to iron-rich saharan dust deposited over the atlantic. because of low atmospheric dust inputs directly onto southern ocean surface waters, chlorophyll α concentrations are low. light availability in the southern ocean changes dramatically seasonally, but it does not seem to be a significant constraint on phytoplankton growth.
high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll regions