Giant cold water eddy to east of Australia by Sean Batty
Oceanographers in Australia have discovered a huge cold water eddy off the coast of Sydney. This has lowered sea levels by 70cm at the centre.
An eddy is an area of water that looks like it is going down a plughole. The water rotates round in a circular motion, going against the flow of the water around it. Unlike a whirlpool, this is a gentle swirling movement and is not threatening to ocean-goers. They can come in all different sizes.
This eddy has a diameter of around 200km (124 miles) and reaches to a depth of 1km (half a mile). The eddy’s centre lies around 100km (62 miles) east of the southern Australian city of Sydney.
The eddy has been described by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) as ‘very powerful’, so powerful in fact that it has disrupted the flow of the strong East Australian Current (EAC).
The crater of water is not visible to the eye, since it stretches over a huge area. The way it is detected is through the use of satellite equipment, which can measure subtle changes in sea levels.
Although eddies are quite a regular occurrence all over the world, they still harbour an element of mystery. How they form is still baffling scientists, however, with developments in technology they hope to unravel the secrets.
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