Antarctica and Southern Ocean Map
The Southern Ocean is rare, beautiful, and astonishing. To shed more light on this beauty, here are the top 10 Southern Ocean facts with a lot of helpful information for learning or to get motivated for your next visit. Continue to read the facts that we have mentioned below, so you could be familiar with the Southern Ocean.
1. Where exactly is the Southern Ocean located?
The Southern Ocean is situated in the southern half of the globe, in the 60 degrees South latitude. It encompasses Antarctica. In this way, the Southern Ocean is ‘rising up ‘ out of the water of the South Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the South Pacific Ocean and in parallel south of 60 degrees South.
2. Name
Likewise, the Southern Ocean is alluded to as the Antarctic Ocean, Austral Ocean, or the South Polar Ocean. The Southern Ocean is the most blooming ocean since it was set ‘just’ 30 million years back when South America, as well as Antarctica, split up.
3. How enormous is actually the Southern Ocean?
In actuality, the Southern Ocean is the 4th greatest (or 2nd smallest) ocean on the planet and incorporates just 6% of the world’s surface.
4. What is the depth of the Southern Ocean?
The Southern Ocean is somewhere in the range of 4,000 m and 4,800 m or 12,000 ft and 14,000 ft in depth with some in-depth channels. The normal profundity is about 3,200 m or 10,700 ft. The most profound point in the Southern Ocean is in the South Sandwich Trench with a profundity of more than 7,000 m 23,000 ft!
5. The facts of the Southern Ocean
Icebergs can be seen in the Southern Ocean throughout all seasons, yet from May to October, there are additionally harsh breezes that make traversing the ocean considerably risky. Huge fragments of the iceberg (colossal chunks of ice) float in the water. They are actually large in size: a few hundred meters huge! Ice junks are viewed as not so big when they are not denser than 1m or 3ft. Yet in summer season ice-breaker cruises frequently require to accompany ships on their way through the Antarctic ocean.
6. Temperature of Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean’s temperatures run from – 2 degrees Celsius to 10 deg Celsius or 28F to 50F. The weather conditions rely likewise upon the seasons. Also, winter is long and keeps going from April to October. At that point, the temperature of the water will, by and large, be beneath 0 deg Celsius or 32 Fahrenheit. The waters in the Southern Pacific Ocean becomes ice in winter beneath 65 deg South latitude whilst in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, the waters freeze as of now underneath 55 deg South latitude! The Antarctic seashore has, yet, certain ice-free regions, also in the winter season.
The low temperature in the locale yet doesn’t deflect voyagers discovering the region on uncommon experience expeditions and travels. Over 50,000 voyagers get to see the beautiful Southern Ocean each year.
7. A part of legacy on the Antarctic Ocean along with Antarctica
The primarily recognized voyagers who first interacted with the cold water of the Southern Ocean were Bartolomeo Diaz who travelled around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa in the year 1487 & Ferdinand Magellan who investigated the Tierra del Fuego in South America in the year 1520. Captain James Cook looked for an island in the Southern Ocean yet never located Antarctica, he arrived in Botany Bay/Australia in the year 1770. He, in any case, traversed the Antarctic circle and came around 71 degrees South latitude in the year 1773.
In the year 1819, just because the land was located south of 60 degrees South latitude. Just in the nineteenth century, Antarctica was found and investigated while different voyages. Sir Ernest Shakelton’s voyage put the primary effort to pass Antarctica ashore, however, they just figured out how to arrive at 88 degrees South latitude. Roald Amundsen became the first person to arrive at the South Pole in the year 1911.
8. Animals in the Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean is residence to the Aptenodytes forsteri (Emperor penguin) and meandering gooney birds, blue whales, and seals. A few seal species do hunt in the water and breed ashore or over ice. The greatest of the seals are the elephant seals that weigh around 4,000 kg or 8,818 lb. Each spring, more than 100 million birds make nests on the stony seashores of Antarctica.
There are likewise a few types of invertebrate species existing in the Southern Ocean, yet just some rare species of fish. The biggest invertebrate discovered on earth is the mammoth squid, which resides in the Southern Ocean. Its weight is around 15 m and height is 49 ft long!
9. Harbours
There are just a couple of harbors in the Southern Ocean. The harbours are mainly possessed by the research bases, for example, the Rothera Station (British research station), Palmer Station (The United States), Mawson Station (Australia), yet the southernmost harbours in Australia are perceived additionally as harbours of the Southern Ocean. Amongst them are Adelaide harbour in South Australia and Macquarie Port on Tasmania. The southernmost harbour in the Southern Ocean is McMurdo Station, and this is an American research station, based on Antarctic ground acquired by New Zealand. Entry to the harbours is constrained till late spring and, after it, the ice-breakers regularly require to accompany touring ships.
10. Do individuals live in Antarctica?
Actually, there are no native individuals in Antarctica. On the most frozen mainland, there are just research bases from different nations, however, these specialists, researchers, and travelers along with their families work and stay there just temporarily.
There are just two towns in Antarctica, in which individuals live and work throughout the entire year. These towns are tiny, with under 100 individuals in winter. They are the Chilean research base ‘Manors Las Estrellas’ along with the Argentinian research base ‘Esperanza Base’. The temperature there is freezing, among 0 deg Celsius and – 10 deg Celsius. In any case, environmental change is perceptible there, as, in the month of March 2015, the most remarkable temperature reported was 17 degrees Celsius or 62F!
There is no doubt that the Southern Ocean is among the last wild lives in the world, with a valuable history of discovery and science, and outstanding beauty.
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