A Giant, Mysterious Hole Has Opened Up in Antarctica

a reply to: Phage


Might be good for ice fishing then.

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

Some ice fisherman is very optimistic !

a reply to: Reverbs





Damn it i can never get these to work

Misfits - All hell breaks loose

With all the big power hungry rulers swarming up there in droves lately, are probably planning to release an army of Nazi cyborgs to ensure their planetary take over.

originally posted by: PillarOfFire
With all the big power hungry rulers swarming up there in droves lately, are probably planning to release an army of Nazi cyborgs to ensure their planetary take over.

" Up there "

Where do you live ?

It is not the arctic .

a reply to: Timely

When the mini ice age hits and the earth shifts it could be.

a reply to: PillarOfFire

Nicely added doom porn ... 😎

a reply to: Timely

One mans doom porn is another mans sixth sense.

originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

Well, our atmosphere is "zebra striped" with alternately rotating concentric rings of air. Those rings are more tightly packed at the poles, and less consentrated near the equator. The EU theory thinks that each ring is driven by a plasma column/filament connected to the sun. I think thats what drives tornadoes, hurricanes, and other storm systems. The plasma would have a thermal effect. With that in mind, if you think about the poles, the plasma would be much more concentrated, so possibly much hotter.

I'm just speculating. I'm sure someone like Phage will be around soon enough to tell me how terribly ignorant I sound.

I see the Electric Universe theory as possible and your observations are compelling. Phage is surely against that from my recall.

a reply to: Phage

Leave it to you (and TEOTW, too!) for insightful, non lazy contributions.

That "periodic change in ocean currents" sounds innocuous enough, buuut is rather concerning in the polar regions... from the breezy/ shallow knowledge I have of climate science, anyway.

A hundreds of kilometers hole in ancient ice pack, far from open ocean, over a kilometers deep area of polar ocean just doesn't seem like biz as usual... though we've only been able to see it for a handful of decades, I know.

It isn't any secret climate models are rather grim. I won't be making my peace with da lord, yet, but it is worth noting.

I'm still hoping it's a flaming Kaiju, though.

a reply to: Baddogma

I'm not too far ahead of you in the lazy contributions! Phage nailed me for not seeing how deep the water was below the ice, lol.

The thing is like a "trick knee" that is fine for a while then goes all wonky one day.

From what I understand, the Antarctic creates cold, salty (well, saltier than the "normal" ocean), current streams that stretch out along the sea floor. It is one of the methods of heat convection and a driver of earth's global weather. The sea ice jutting off the mainland is like a barometer, a quick dashboard check, of what is occurring below. When a huge chunk falls off it is kind of a sign. This polynya, while great for fishing for blue whales and keeping your six pack in while sipping hot toddies, seems to be another sign that something is up.

The "what" that is up remains to be seen. I'm sure if it is "global warming" related that there will be all kinds of screaming and hollering done. I'm just glad that there are satellites up there to watch for strange things like this happening. The OP source quotes the guy as saying, "if we did not have [a satellite] we never would have known it was there"!

PS - I am at the edge of my ocean science knowledge! See, not that far ahead!



ETA: (I knew there was name for them! When I find the rivulets spreading out I will add it too)

A thermocline (also known as the thermal layer or the metalimnion in lakes) is a thin but distinct layer in a large body of fluid (e.g. water, such as an ocean or lake, or air, such as an atmosphere) in which temperature changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below. In the ocean, the thermocline divides the upper mixed layer from the calm deep water below. Depending largely on season, latitude and turbulent mixing by wind, thermoclines may be a semi-permanent feature of the body of water in which they occur or they may form temporarily in response to phenomena such as the radiative heating/cooling of surface water during the day/night. Factors that affect the depth and thickness of a thermocline include seasonal weather variations, latitude and local environmental conditions, such as tides and currents.

Wikipedia - Thermocline.

Thermohaline circulation moves a massive current of water around the globe, from northern oceans to southern oceans, and back again. Currents slowly turn over water in the entire ocean, from top to bottom. It is somewhat like a giant conveyor belt, moving warm surface waters downward and forcing cold, nutrient-rich waters upward.

The top ocean layer is about 100 meters (330 feet) deep. Enough sunlight reaches that depth for organisms, such as phytoplankton, to carry out photosynthesis. Phytoplankton makes up the first part of the marine food chain and is essential to all ocean life.

The middle, or barrier, layer is called the thermocline. The ocean’s temperature and density change very quickly at this layer. The barrier layer is about 500 to 1,000 meters (1,600 to 3,300 feet) deep.

Below the barrier layer is the bottom layer, referred to as the deep ocean. It averages about 3 kilometers (2 miles) in depth.

NationalGeographic.org - ocean conveyor belt.

I was close with "thermocline" but the proper term is "thermohaline" circulation. The article is good read too.

Hey look! TEOT learned something by helping everybody learn something!

Somehow, those nice layers got all mixed up and created a hole the size of Maine in thick Antarctic sea ice.

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

I was close with "thermocline" but the proper term is "thermohaline" circulation.

Thermohaline circulation refers to two aspects which determine the density of sea water; temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline). Differences in density cause vertical movement of water masses, similar to thermals in the atmosphere.

A thermocline is a transition between temperature regimes, similar to a temperature inversion in the atmosphere. Thermohaline circulation is a process.

Somehow, those nice layers got all mixed up and created a hole the size of Maine in thick Antarctic sea ice.

A vortex (eddy) current is likely, bringing warmer saltier water upward toward the surface. To use another atmospheric analogy, like a dust devil. But really big and long lived.

a reply to: Phage

Thanks for helping me in my confusion!

I remembered the "conveyor belt" and "thermo" was in there somewhere. I thought it may have been "cline" until the NatGeo article straightened out my thought process.

I wonder if all that fresh water (from the melted ice above) dilutes the haline flow that much? Or is it just confined to the area of the polynya?

In the end, the North Atlantic current makes its way there to make up dilution. So it is kind of moot point. But if it is localized that might help to explain the reoccurrence. A bit fresher water creating a slightly thicker layer on that shelf then slowly rising through the upper layer creating the swimming hole!

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

I wonder if all that fresh water (from the melted ice above) dilutes the haline flow that much? Or is it just confined to the area of the polynya?

That paper I cited earlier asks a similar question.

Is the ice deformed in a consistent manner that might aid or diminish the rate of ice formation and hence modify the static stability of the upper water column?

originally posted by: Phage
Looking closer at Google Earth; here's something interesting. Near as I can tell, the hole is located near (within 100 miles or so) of the Maud Rise seamount.

Now check this out:

A distinctive halo of sea ice deformation was observed above the Maud Rise seamount in the eastern Weddell Sea in the winter of 2005.

Though this paper is not specifically about a hole in the ice, it does say this:

Several authors hypothesize how environmental features may interact to cause ice thinning and polynya formation. Holland [2001a, 2001b] uses an isopycnal model to demonstrate how Ekman effects, induced by ocean circulation (in particular, cyclonic eddy shedding) can lead to ice thinning and polynya formation around an idealized seamount. He shows that transients in the mean oceanic flow toward the seamount produce polynya positioned on the flank of the seamount and located about 90 degrees to the left of the direction of the oncoming flow transient.

The central idea being that the sea mount causes mixing with a deeper layer of warmer, saltier water by spinning off vortices. Similar to the way a mountain on land influences the weather around it by deflecting the wind. So, a periodic change in deep sea currents in the area?

onlinelibrary.wiley.com...

That makes sense. Good post.

Thermocline exists. It is usually in fresh water at 4C water is at max density and found at the bottom of closed water body of a lake. I forget offhand what the temp would be in seawater but it is the same idea with a water density gradient defining the thermocline. Lightest water molecules being ice, are found at the top.
ETA

forgot,, the currents make the ocean a non closed system compared to a small body of water that has little movement.

originally posted by: Illumimasontruth
a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

Oh CERN what have you done now?

Lol nice one

It's the Nephilim, or Annunaki if you like, they need to open a hole to the surface of Antarctica every once in a while to refresh the air supply to their base.

Aren't most seamounts volcanic in origin? Is the Maud one active? link