The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the only ocean current to circle the planet and the largest wind-driven current on Earth. It's also 30% more powerful than scientists realized.
Antarctica
Posted inScience Updates
Space Weather from a Southern Point of View
A recently completed instrument array in Antarctica provides a more complete understanding of the near-Earth space environment.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Air-Sea Interactions Influence Major Southern Wind Belt
Ocean and atmospheric data provide evidence for how sea surface temperatures affect the Southern Annular Mode.
Posted inNews
Elephant Seals' Dives Show Slowdown in Ocean Circulation
Data from instruments mounted on elephant seals reveal that melting ice flushes fresh water into the Southern Ocean, suppressing an important arm of the global ocean circulation belt.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
What Steers Antarctica's Largest Current?
Scientists have observed that pressure from current-seafloor encounters drives the direction of the massive Antarctic Circumpolar Current in the Southern Ocean.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Do the Deep Waters of the Antarctic Form?
Researchers uncover new insights into the life cycle of water in the Antarctic region by measuring noble gas concentrations.
Posted inNews
Antarctica's Ozone Hole Is Healing, Scientists Say
The ozone hole over Antarctica has shrunk by 16% since its peak in 2000, and some suspect it may disappear entirely by midcentury.
Posted inScience Updates
New Approaches for Air-Sea Fluxes in the Southern Ocean
Air-Sea Fluxes for the Southern Ocean: Strategies and Requirements for Detecting Physical and Biogeochemical Exchanges; Frascati, Italy, 21–23 September 2015
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Antarctica Gets a New Gravity Map
A comprehensive collection of variation in Earth's gravity could aid studies of the Antarctic geoid and of Antarctica's geology and ice sheet dynamics.
Posted inNews
Scientists Find the Point of No Return for Antarctic Ice Cap
Varying amounts of glacial debris in a core of ancient sediment show the ice cover grew and shrank until airborne carbon dioxide levels fell below 600 parts per million, spurring steady growth.