Friday, March 16, 2007

[stop press] sargasso sea very mysterious

Rushed to you from the the offices of the Daily Higham, this special report from the Bermuda Triangle on the latest situation in the Sargasso Sea:

The Sargasso Sea is part of the North Atlantic Ocean, lying roughly between the West Indies and the Azores. Here, the heart of the Bermuda Triangle is covered by the strangest sea on the planet named for a kind of seaweed called sargassum, which lazily floats over its entire expanse.

Catching sight of these huge mats of seaweed have always marked the perimeter of this peculiar sea. Columbus himself made note of it. Thinking land was nearby, he fathomed the sea, only to find no bottom. The bottom is, in fact, miles below on the Nares Abyssal Plain.

The Sargasso Sea occupies that part of the Atlantic between 20o to 35o North Latitude and 30o to 70o (the horse latitudes), West Longitude. It is in complete contrast to the ocean around it. Its currents are largely immobile yet surrounded by some of the strongest currents in the world: The Florida, Gulf Stream, Canary, North Equatorial, Antilles, and Caribbean currents.

These interlock to separate this sea from the rest of the tempestuous Atlantic, making its indigenous currents largely entropious. Therefore anything that drifts onto any of its surrounding currents eventually ends up in the Sargasso Sea amidst its expansive weed mats of sargassum.

Because of the entropious currents, it is unlikely anything would ever drift out. The Sargasso Sea rotates slightly itself and even changes position as its surrounding currents change with weather and temperature patterns during different seasons.

This rivetting story continues here.
For sargassfanats, click here.

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