Undersea river discovered flowing on sea bed

Undersea river discovered flowing on sea bed

www.telegraph.co.uk

Scientists have discovered massive undersea rivers flowing along the bottom of the world's oceans.

The discovery revealed currents of water 350 times greater than the River Thomas flowing along the bottom of the Black Sea, carving out channels in a similar way to conventional rivers flowing on land.


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.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Didnt see this posted anywhere....

Its amazing all the things that we still dont know about the ocean. Things like this could explain a lot of unsolved history about the world and how it works. The upsides to a discovery like this are endless... it could advance medicine, biology, changing environments and ecosystems.... the implications r amazing. Visit the full article its an amazing read.

www.telegraph.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

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.

Amazing stuff.... waterfalls and rapids underwater?? These are crazy physics...

www.telegraph.co.uk...

Fantastic find!

In the depths of the Gulf of Mexico, and elsewhere, there are what has been called "Cold Seeps" which are literally underwater "lakes" of a briny (highly salty) water, heavier than the water we normally consider "the ocean."

These seeps have also been observed to coincide with the presence of vast fields of methane rich sea bed substrate where unique life-forms exist - most of which are independent of solar energy entirely.

These "rivers" seem quite similar....

They found a river of highly salty water flowing along the deep channel at the bottom of the Black Sea, creating river banks and flood plains much like a river found on land.

Dr Dan Parsons, from the university's school of earth and environment, said: "The water in the channels is denser than the surrounding seawater because it has higher salinity and is carrying so much sediment.

"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.

"The key difference we found from terrestrial rivers was that as the flow goes round the bend, the water spirals in the opposite way to rivers on land."

The undersea river discovered by Dr Parsons and his colleagues, which is yet to be named, stems from salty water spilling through the Bosphorus Strait from the Mediterranean into the Black Sea, where the water has a lower salt content.

This causes the dense water from the Mediterranean to flow like a river along the sea bed, carving a channel with banks around 115 feet deep and 0.6 of a mile wide. It is the only active undersea river to have been found so far.

S&F!

Now all that is needed is some Billionaire with time on their hands.....

Imagine a craft designed to ride those rapids!!

Of course, there is that pesky pressure problem, but what a RIDE it would be!!

Forget space shots, ride the Rapids Under the Sea!

On a real note, this may be how sea creatures move long distances in the ocean, they ride the Rivers.

Nice find.

Just imagine the life that could be living there!?

Cool find!

Lol, that would be a very strange ride.... but at least you wouldnt have to worry about falling out of the boat and getting wet!

Oh and it was saying something in the article about thats how a lot of nutrients and stuff are delivered.... I would definately think some species may use it as a form of transportation if they learned to use it properly. Or better yet, it makes you wonder what it would change if it stopped flowing??

[edit on 8/2/2010 by ZyPHeR]

Spelling.

[edit on 8/2/2010 by ZyPHeR]

reply to post by ZyPHeR
I've flagged your OP, but doesn't it seem like some discoveries are repeatedly featured in the popular press?

I'm beginning to suspect science/nature journalists write articles and keep them on standby for when they have a heavy weekend. Monday rolls around and they just send in something they wrote earlier lol

Hmmm... yeah, makes you wonder. I regularly check headlines on yahoo and cnn and whatnot to see whats new today... this popped up nowhere in any of the major publications and its surprising to me. I wonder about putting fish safe dye directly into the current and following it to see where it ends up and research some of the lifeforms there.... even down to a microbial scale.

If i may add this may also prove that earth is and might be hollow earth.

yea the earth is hollow just like some peoples head. so im going to the next cave i find and im going to the center of the earth!

Originally posted by notfallingdown
yea the earth is hollow just like some peoples head. so im going to the next cave i find and im going to the center of the earth!

i was only making a statement about it

yea the earth is hollow just like some peoples head

no need for the insult.

reply to post by Agent_USA_Supporter


just how exactly would that prove the earth is hollow?

This reminds me of Journey to the center of the Earth.

Waterfalls, I bet there's plants and animals too.

Cant wait for more.

Great find. Very interesting story.


This would explain a lot of very strange goings on we witness in Bikini Bottom.

reply to post by Agent_USA_Supporter


no insult just a statement which is kind of true no disrespect tho

Interesting as this may be, I was under the impression that it was already generally accepted that there were rivers of water under the seas. It's caused by differences in salinity, which in turn increases the density of the water, causing it to "sink" to the bottom of the sea bed. This water then reacts to gravity in much the same way standard rivers do, flowing in streams and eroding the sea bed.

Is it simply these rivers in particular, there location or size/scale that is of interest here, because underwater rivers is certainly not news to me.

S&F for interesting post though

[edit for spellnig]

[edit on 3-8-2010 by nik1halo]

Originally posted by JohnySeagull

Great find. Very interesting story.


This would explain a lot of very strange goings on we witness in Bikini Bottom.

I've witnessed a lot of strange goings on in Bikini Bottoms, but enough about my love life

All rivers on land have headwaters or sources such as a melting glacier or natural spring.
What would be the source of the heavy water in the seas? That water flows down over its own waterfalls and rapids so it must originate somehow at higher elevations, but from what?
Ya gotta wonder, what causes the higher salinity in the first place?

reply to post by ZyPHeR


As Plato told us about 2300 years ago