14 DAY TRIAL // In an area lying about 3,000 kilometers southwest of Australia, researchers find the eastern edge of the Kerguelen Plateau. This 2,200-kilometer-long rise is the scaffold for one of the most mysterious and fast oceanic currents in the world, which carries millions of metric cubes of cold water from Antarctica northwards every second. The speed at which this current pushes cold water away from the Southern Continent has been a subject of controversy for some time, but the reality is that accurate readings were never collected, Nature News reports.
Thus far, the only measurements conducted at the location produced “snapshots” of the current, using scientific instruments deployed from aboard research vessels. The new experiments, conducted by ocean scientist Yasushi Fukamachi, from the Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan, sought to rectify these gaps in data. About 30 current and temperature recorders were set into place along the most likely path the current may have taken, and then left in place for about 2 years. During this time, each of the station collected and relayed data about what was going on at its location.
It was determined that the current generally begins at a depth of about 3,000 meters, and that it can move at speeds in excess of 700 meters per hour. This makes it the fastest deep-water current in the Southern Hemisphere, with a carrying volume of no less than 30 million cubic meters of water per second. The cold water the oceanic “fast lane” carries northwards comes from the Ross Sea, and from an area off the coast of Adelie Land, in Antarctica. Due to the Coriolis force, the current hugs the eastern shore of the Kerguelen Plateau, accelerating and narrowing down to only 50 kilometers.
Currents such as this one are responsible for keeping Europe warm, for example, and out of the reach of glaciers. Understanding how they function, and what factors influence them the most, is one of the most important goals in climate science today. These currents are very sensitive to influences, and so they can theoretically shut down, to disastrous consequences. “We're not saying this could happen instantaneously, like the movie The Day After Tomorrow, but understanding this kind of current is very important to understanding global climate,” Fukamachi mentioned.