Observatoire des droits humains (anglais seulement)

Tiny dips in sea level reveal flow of climate-regulating underwater waterfalls

(Version anglaise seulement)

par Matthis Auger, Research Associate in Physical Oceanography, University of Tasmania

Beneath the surface of the Southern Ocean, vast volumes of cold, dense water plunge off the Antarctic continental shelf, cascading down underwater cliffs to the ocean floor thousands of metres below. These hidden waterfalls are a key part of the global ocean’s overturning circulation – a vast conveyor belt of currents that moves heat, carbon, and nutrients around the world, helping to regulate Earth’s climate.

For decades, scientists have struggled to observe these underwater waterfalls of dense water around Antarctica. They occur in some of the most remote and stormy waters on the…

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