The Southern Ocean

There is a tremendous amount of information that has written about Antarctica for those wanting to do some heavy reading. Much of the information I will be sharing is from a few different sources including my personal experience, pictures from our expedition, personal research on specific subject matters and the Antarctic Primer provided to each member of the expedition.

"The Southern Ocean consists of a broad band of generally turbulent water surrounding the continent of Antarctica. The northern limit of this ocean is at about 40 degrees South latitude. Westerly winds and the associated West Wind Drift, or Antarctic Circumpolar Current, are outstanding features of the Southern Ocean. They cause massive amounts of water to move constantly from west to east all around Antarctica. This involves water from the surface down to about 3,000 meters (9,900 feet) stretching over a distance of some 24,000 kilometers (14,200 miles).

It has been estimated that on average some 130 million cubic meters of water per second are continuously on the move, four times that of the Gulf Stream, and 400 times that of the Mississippi.

A ship sailing south to Antarctica will encounter a sharp drop in temperature between 49 degrees and 55 degrees South latitude. At that point one can usually detect subtle changes in both the ocean and the atmosphere. If the weather is calm there may be a sudden fog bank, a line of turbulence, and/or concentrations of feeding seabirds. This delineates the Antarctic Convergence, a zone that surrounds the continent." (AP pg.15)

On the expedition, it was communicated when we were heading into the Antarctic Convergence. We experienced a definite drop in temperature and associated fog which can be associated with a change in atmospheric conditions.

A few of us commented on the change we could see and feel regarding the changes in the atmospheric pressure and climate change. I commented in an earlier blog on how the foggy conditions also contributed to the mystic that surrounds Antarctica.

Obviously, one of the dangers of the Southern Ocean are the large icebergs.