Weddell Sea and its features

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

Just a few decades ago, the list of the cleanest seas in the world could be quite impressive. But thanks to all of humanity, this picture, unfortunately, is changing for the worse from day to day. However, there are still untouched places. Where are they?

Here we will talk about the amazing discovery of the Englishman Weddell - the sea. Which ocean does it belong to? What features does it have? We will try to answer these and many other questions in the article.

It is also hard to imagine that there are seas whose water warms up only a couple of degrees above zero all year round, or even does not cross this border at all.

It is believed that the coldest place on Earth is in the north. But it turned out that the coldest water is off the coast of Antarctica, completely covered with ice and covered with non-melting white-blue snow.

The most transparent seas in the world

1. Dead, located between Israel and Jordanis the s altiest in the world, and its waters are the most uninhabitable.

2. Red, considered the most beautiful and purest in the world, is located between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa. It strikes with its picturesqueness, fabulous beauty of flora and fauna.

3. The Mediterranean is also often categorized as the cleanest sea, but here we are talking about only some of its coasts

4. The Aegean is similar to the Mediterranean - its purity is directly related to the coastal zone of the country.

Heads this list of the cleanest natural waters of the Weddell Sea, which will be discussed in more detail below.

Date of discovery of the Weddell Sea

In 1823, an expedition from England led by an Englishman J. Weddell discovered this amazing, enchanting sea with its cold beauty. They also gave the first name - the Sea of George IV. A little later, it was renamed in honor of its discoverer.

Where is the Weddell Sea? Description

It extends off the coast of West Antarctica.

This is a marginal sea in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, located between the Antarctic Peninsula (west) and Coates Land (east). The entire area of the natural reservoir is 2900 thousand square kilometers. For the most part, its depth is 3000 meters, but in some places it can reach up to 6800 meters. The southern and southwestern shores are mostly shallow (approximately 500 meters deep).

The coast of the southern part was created by the marginal part of the ice shelves(Filchner and Ronne), from which huge pieces of ice floes, icebergs break off periodically (1 time in 20-25). Almost all year round (or rather, most of the year) a huge number of ice floes float in the sea. The fauna here is represented by seals, whales, fish.

Features of the Weddell Sea

As noted above, the sea is the cleanest in the world. In autumn 1986, the German scientists of the scientific vessel "Polyarnaya Zvezda" measured the maximum transparency here (79 m). And this is the transparency of distilled water. True, theoretically, for distilled water, this mark (where the white disk of Secchi 30 cm in diameter disappears from view) corresponds to a depth of 80 meters.

Unfortunately, this amazing crystal clear sea is not suitable for swimming at all. And it is always covered with drifting ice.

The Weddell Sea is also one of the most dangerous in the world. Floating ice floes and icebergs pose a terrible threat to ships.

This natural body of water defies the laws of physics. What's the matter? The amazing thing is that the water, even at the very base of these icy mountains, does not freeze, but can have a minus 25-degree temperature!

A little about the most severe (cold) seas

So, which seas are the coldest? Consider 5 of them.

1. The Weddell Sea is undoubtedly the coldest.

2. The Amundsen Sea is relatively shallow and small. Its depth is only 585 meters, the area is not more than 100 thousand square meters. meters. The sea is completely covered with a thick layer of ice all year round.

3. The Davis Sea is also covered in permanent glaciers. It is here that the Mirny station, installed in 1956, has been located since Soviet times.

4. The Bellingshausen Sea was discovered in 1821. In winter, the surface is covered with floating ice floes and icebergs. Off the coast, the water has a temperature of about minus one degree all year round, to the north the water “warms up”, reaching the mark "0".

5. The Ross Sea is the first sea (the coast of Antarctica), the water temperature of which is at least occasionally above zero. In summer, the surface is plus two degrees Celsius.

The rightfully leading harsh, cold, but crystal clear Weddell Sea attracts with its impregnable, majestic, fantastic beauty and mystery. It tops the list of the world's cleanest and most unapproachable seas in terms of navigation.