When Oceans Collide: What Happens When the Atlantic and Pacific Meet
Ocean enthusiasts have always wondered what happens when the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean, which meet at Cape Horn, on the southernmost tip of Chile, mix.
The Pacific Ocean is located between the Americas in the east, and Oceania and Asia in the west. The Atlantic Ocean, on the other hand, is sandwiched between Europe and Africa in the east, and the Americas in the west.
The Pacific Ocean is the world's largest and deepest ocean and covers almost 165 million square kilometers of area. The average depth of this ocean is around 4,280m.
The Atlantic Ocean, in terms of area, is just behind the Pacific Ocean, with an area of around 107 million square kilometers. The average depth, of this water body was around 3,646m.
The ocean waters from the Pacific and Atlantic do mix, said Nadín Ramírez, an oceanographer at the University of Concepción in Chile. Unlike land masses, oceans can't have defined borders, so currents from each ocean continually flow into the other, without any barricades to movement.
The two oceans come together near the southern tip of South America, where the continent crumbles into a constellation of small islands, Live Science reported. In between those islands, the pace of the water is relatively slow, therefore people often can capture the meeting point of these two oceans at the Beagle Channel. The Strait of Magellan is a popular passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Several videos are viral on social media claiming to showcase the union of these two oceans. Most of them have been captured at this location.
Pacific waters look different in comparison to Atlantic waters because of their texture. "You can see a blue tongue of water in the Atlantic," said Ramírez. This blue tongue is the incoming waters from the Pacific. Eventually, the storms come and blur the line.
The surface salinity of the Atlantic waters is higher than the Pacific and Indian Oceans, while the Red Sea and the Mediterranean are even more saltier. The salinity difference is why the Pacific and Atlantic mix at different speeds in different places.
At places where the difference is higher, it takes longer for the waters to come together, Live Science reported. The mix-up is more efficient at locations where the difference is more even.
Unlike the Strait of Magellan, the mixing of waters is more choppy in the open ocean between South America and Antarctica, Live Science reported. The mixture is helped by the waves in this place that can reach heights of 60 feet (18 meters). This phenomenon gives the whole process the push it needs to come together.
The pace of the mixture at different places is being impacted by climate change, Live Science reported. Casimir de Lavergne, a researcher at Sorbonne University and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) claimed that "It seems to have already started, especially around Antarctica."
The warming up of Poles and acceleration of northbound currents is slowing the pace of water exchange. The density difference is also a factor contributing to lowering the water mixing speed. The shifts are expected to impact the oxygen cycle of the ocean as well as the flora and fauna in the waters, Live Science reported.