Many people think that the seas are a unified block and they are only divided into oceans to name them. But real oceans have vivid, unexpected boundaries.
If you go to the boundary between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, you will feel “Wow” because the natural phenomenon is so amazing. Accordingly, the water area between the two oceans has a clear dividing line. Looking from above, visitors can see two bodies of water that do not mix with each other and have different colors.
A series of videos on Youtube and TikTok have attracted a lot of views as they show a strange line splitting the middle of the ocean, with one side of the sea being dark while the other is lighter in color.
According to Live Science, such ‘boundaries’ often appear in areas where rivers flow into the sea, or near the shelves of glaciers floating in the ocean. However, in videos posted on social networks, the poster claims that the dividing line is the boundary between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and asserts that this is ‘proof’ that the water of the two oceans do not mix with each other.
Below the video, many viewers asked different questions. Does that strange dividing line really exist? Do the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans mix, or is there a clear separation?
According to Nadín Ramírez, an oceanographer at the University of Concepción in Chile, the answer is yes, as bodies of water constantly mix with each other. Accordingly, Pacific and Atlantic ocean waters mix at different rates in different places, while climate change has a certain impact on this rate.
Imagine pouring instant cream into a cup of coffee. The liquids will mix together, but at a gradual pace. The same thing happens in videos or images showing the boundaries between different ocean waters. Because the ocean water on one side may be saltier, cleaner or colder, these differences take time to neutralize.
Of course, the neutralization speed will be faster under the influence of strong winds and large waves. It’s like using a spoon to vigorously stir a cup of coffee, causing the cream to dissolve faster in the cup.
Also according to scientists, the mixing speed of seawater from the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans will happen faster in some places than in others.
