Sargasso Sea

The Sargasso Sea is a sea area in the Atlantic Ocean east of Florida and south of Bermuda.

Hydrographic

The position is 30 degrees north latitude and 60 ° to 75 ° west longitude. This marine region has no coastline and islands, with an area of approximately 5.3 million square kilometers larger than the Mediterranean and the Caribbean Sea together. It is in the shadow of the Antilles eddy current which is off the coast of Florida to the Gulf Stream. It is around 5,000 meters and a maximum of 7000 meters deep ( shallower depths exist in the area of ​​the Mid-Atlantic Ridge ), the water is particularly clear. The linear expansion of the maritime area is 3200 km away, and it is up to 1100 km wide. Due to the rotational forces of the currents of the sea level about a meter located in the center below the surrounding Atlantic.

Name and ecosystem

The name Sargasso Sea is derived from the large amounts of free-floating in the water brown algae of the genus Sargassum. This Sargassum " forests " provide a special habitat for small crabs, worms and other marine animals dar.

The scholar Maury explained this once: if you bring floating body in a vessel, and the water in this vessel in a circular motion, you can see that unite the scattered pieces of a group at the center of the liquid surface, ie at the point where there is the least motion. In this case, the Atlantic is the vessel of the Gulf Stream the circular motion and the Sargasso Sea the central point at which unite the floating body. Jules Verne quotes this statement literally in his 1870 novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Scientists suspect that these plants can be very old, so that today's coffin Assen have been seen by their discoverer Christopher Columbus. The side arms of these plants can be up to 300 meters long. The primary production is substantial, it is estimated that one third of the primary production of the open Atlantic takes place in the Sargasso Sea.

The Sargasso Sea is the place where to meet and spawn the American eel and the European eel. From here, the young animals ( willow leaf larvae - Leptocephalus ) to start their long journey into the rivers and lakes of the respective continents.

Waste

The garbage problem of the people has also reached the Sargasso Sea. Just as in the North Pacific Garbage Patch, a giant in the circle here turns. Plastic waste that is thrown overboard from ships, here as well as collect the waste from rivers.