A 3-D radar image, using false colour, of the undersea river channel where it enters the Black Sea from the Bosphorus Strait. Photo: University of Leeds
From Site:
"Researchers working in the Black Sea have found currents of water 350 times greater than the River Thames flowing along the sea bed, carving out channels much like a river on the land.
The undersea river, which is up to 115ft deep in places, even has rapids and waterfalls much like its terrestrial equivalents.
If found on land, scientists estimate it would be the world's sixth largest river in terms of the amount of water flowing through it.
The discovery could help explain how life manages to survive in the deep ocean far out to sea away from the nutrient rich waters that are found close to land, as the rivers carry sediment and nutrients with them."
""It flows down the sea shelf and out into the abyssal plain much like a river on land. The abyssal plains of our oceans are like the deserts of the marine world, but these channels can deliver nutrients and ingredients needed for life out over these deserts.
"This means they could be vitally important, like arteries providing life to the deep ocean."
[via: http://www.telegraph.co.uk]
*This reminds me of a dream I had. Looking at the picture. Instead of a river of rich waters I saw oil running through it instead, somewhere in the Gulf!*
Update:
I guess my dream wasn't to far off ...
August 17, 2010
