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Sargasso Sea |
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Sargasso Sea (särgăs`ō), part of the N Atlantic Ocean, lying roughly between the West Indies and the Azores and from about lat. 20°N to lat. 35°N, in the horse latitudes horse latitudes, two belts of latitude where winds are light and the weather is hot and dry. They are located mostly over the oceans, at about 30° lat. in each hemisphere, and have a north-south range of about 5° as they follow the seasonal migration of the
..... Click the link for more information. . The relatively still sea is the center of a great swirl of ocean currents and is a rich field for the marine biologist. It is noted for the abundance of gulfweed (see seaweed seaweed, name commonly used for the multicellular marine algae. Simpler forms, consisting of one cell (e.g., the diatom) or of a few cells, are not generally called seaweeds; these tiny plants help to make up plankton. ..... Click the link for more information. ) on its surface. The Bermuda islands are in the northwestern part of the sea. Sargasso SeaBody of relatively still water in the North Atlantic Ocean. Elliptical in shape and strewn with a brown floating seaweed of the genus Sargassum, it lies between latitude 20° and 35° N and longitude 30° and 70° W and encompasses the Bermuda islands. It was first mentioned by Christopher Columbus, who crossed it in 1492. The presence of the seaweed suggested the proximity of land and encouraged him to continue, but many early navigators feared becoming entangled in the floating vegetation and turned back. Sargasso Sea a calm area of the N Atlantic, between the Caribbean and the Azores, where there is an abundance of floating seaweed of the genus Sargassum Sargasso Sea [sär′ga·sō ′sē] (geography) A region of the North Atlantic Ocean; boundaries are defined in the west and north by the Gulf Stream, in the east by longitude 40°W, and in the south by latitude 20°N. Sargasso Sea an area of the Atlantic Ocean situated in tropical latitudes between the Canaries Current, the North Equatorial Current, and the Gulf Stream—that is, between 23°-35° N lat. and 30°-68° W long. The area fluctuates from 6 to 7 million sq km owing to seasonal changes in the currents. The winds and currents are weak and unstable, since the region is located in the center of the anticyclone cycle of surface waters. The water temperature is 18°-23°C in the winter and 26°-28°C in the summer. The salinity is 36.5–37.0 pro mille. The Sargasso Sea received its name from the extensive aggregates of the seaweed Sargassum that float on or near the surface. The abundance of seaweed is due to the convergence of surface currents in the area. The sea is inhabited by many different types of animals. Free-swimming animals include mackerel, flying fishes, sea urchins, crabs, and sea tortoises; animals that live attached to seaweed include sea anemones and bryozoans. The Sargasso Sea was at one time exceptionally clean, with visibility to a depth of 60 cm. Now the sea is severely contaminated with heavy oils. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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No references found | The spawning habits of the eel are still not fully understood, because, unlike other migratory fish that swim into rivers and upstream to the headwaters to reproduce, eels go the opposite way out of the rivers and migrate to their spawning ground in the Sargasso Sea off Bermuda. In a new study, Benjamin Van Mooy, a geochemist with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), reported that microscopic plants growing in the Sargasso Sea have come up with a completely unexpected way of building their cell membranes. The European eel's migration to the Sargasso Sea to spawn is one of nature's great unsolved mysteries. |
Sargasso Sea |
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