Helen Czerski is a physicist, oceanographer and science communicator based in the U.K. She is an associate professor in mechanical engineering at University College London.
We are all used to the lush green landscapes and rugged mountainscapes that define the land we live on, but from space, it's clear that we live on a blue planet. Despite its extreme saltiness, unpredictable nature and unprecedented effect on our weather, this incredible expanse of water is vital to all life on Earth.
Helen Czerski: The definition of an engine is something that turns any heat energy into movement, which is what the ocean does. AM: For most people, casual observers will look at the ocean and see it's quite flat, maybe if it's a windy day then it's a bit choppy, but by the sounds of it there's a lot more going on underneath.
, if you have warmer water, which is less dense, it will sit on top. And then if there's cold water underneath it will stay down at the bottom, and they don't mix. They're just like the layers in the cocktail — there's no energy to mix them up and so they just stay there. The only reason there is life in the ocean is because you can break that paradox. This happens near the edges, where you get periods of upwelling, and close to the poles, then the top layer and the bottom layer can be connected. That's why the layering matters, and it's density that is what sets the layers.
AM: You say these currents take hundreds of years to slowly move around, but how is that? Because I thought if you put water together it sloshes and it mixes depending on how quickly I stir it — does the ocean work in a different, much slower way? But the place where that rule is broken is up in the Arctic Ocean because it's cold at the surface — cold enough to freeze, fine — but there is a layer underneath that is warmer, and it's got enough warmth in it to melt all of the ice today. That warmth is sequestered down at depth and the reason it's down there is it's really salty, making it denser than the fresher water on top.
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The Fram: A Victorian expedition to the North Pole that was as brilliant as it was bonkersHelen Czerski is a physicist, oceanographer and science communicator based in the U.K. She is an associate professor in mechanical engineering at University College London.
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