By Indraneel Ghosh
The oceans are among the biggest mysteries of the earth, which have puzzled humans since time immemorial. Till date, we do not have a convincing explanation for the events that have occurred in the Bermuda Triangle. In fact, for filming the Avatar sequels, James Cameron chose the underwater as a location due to the associated mystique. From large volcanic mountains to strange aquatic life forms that are yet to be understood completely, the ocean is filled with bizarre mysteries. There are parts of the ocean, like the Mariana Trench, which haven’t been explored completely. Scientists believe that we have barely scratched the surface when it comes to studying the organisms living in the oceans.
Shining in the dark: Bioluminescence
Have you ever wondered how do aquatic organisms navigate in the pitch-dark depths of the oceans? Some of them have developed the abilities to glow in one form or the other. This property, referred to as bioluminescence, is used for both predation and navigating these deep waters. Not only aquatic organisms, this is also observed in a multitude of organisms ranging from Jack-o’-Lantern mushrooms to fireflies.
Although it may not exactly seem like a smart idea to alert the prey about your location, the strategy does wonders in these environments. In an environment that is completely dark, most organisms tend to be attracted towards the minuscule source of light. As they reach these sources, the predator eats them.
What’s astonishing is that it is also used for alerting other organisms to one’s presence, even when the subject is defenceless in nature. For instance, the Atolla, which is a jellyfish, uses it as an alarm. As they light up, it attracts a larger fish to gobble up the preying fish, thus allowing the jellyfish to escape. Others like the Vampire Squid use it as a defence mechanism by firing a cloud of bioluminescent mucous at the predator. This surprises the attacker and allows them to escape. The property is used as a camouflaging mechanism in krills. In an environment of perennial twilight, krills use their photophores to give off a light. The light is of similar colour and intensity as that of the sun or moonlight which filters into the water. This makes them invisible to other organisms in water.
Striped icebergs: Southern oceanic mysteries
The Southern Ocean is one of the biggest mysteries for oceanographers. One of the primary reason is the windy weather which makes it difficult to execute exploration missions there. More recently, there have been explorations powered by robots and automated devices to explore these areas in a better manner.
One of the more recent discoveries in the southern ocean is the exquisite striped icebergs. Unlike the usual pristine white icebergs, these icebergs have hues of a wide array of colours. The brown, black and yellow stripes are formed by the sediment lines of the respective colours which are formed when the ice sheets grind them as they head towards the sea. Blue and green coloured stripes are also found at times. The blue hues get created when any crevice in an ice sheet gets filled with molten water. This water then freezes so that no bubble formation takes place. The green stripes occur in icebergs when the seawater containing algae freezes on it.
Submarine volcanoes: Underwater volcanoes
In general, underwater volcanoes are more efficient than their terrestrial counterparts. These volcanoes are underwater fissures from which magma erupts out on a regular basis. The lava which erupts from these mountains is very different from that emitted by the terrestrial volcanic mountains. For starters, when the lava meets the ocean water, a solid crust is formed around it. As the advancing lava flows into this crust, it forms a structure called pillow lava.
The eruptions of these volcanoes are far more powerful in nature. The magma and lava emitted by them have the power to create edges of new oceanic plates. These volcanoes also supply heat and chemicals necessary to sustain the rarest of ecosystems on the planet. There’s still a lot more study that needs to be done to find out everything about these volcanoes. One of the biggest challenges is accessing these volcanic mountains. Not only are they dangerous but they are also located deep in the ocean. Organizations like NASA have been working on the development of new exploration technologies to conduct studies in environments like these.
What are maelstroms?
A maelstrom is a very powerful and massive whirlpool in the ocean. They have the potential to suck things like boats on the surface of the ocean. Ancient stories depict them to have the ability to sink largest of ships. According to physics, maelstroms are rotating masses of water known as eddies. Although they may not be able to sink ships without help from external agents, they can damage anything that comes in their path.
Recently, scientists have claimed that they have observed a new bizarre kind of phenomenon in which the swirls of water rotate in opposite directions. Although mathematicians had predicted its existence, we have not seen many real-life instances of this phenomenon so far. This indeed makes it challenging for scientists to figure out what could be causing this new kind of maelstrom. Scientists are yet to find an explanation for the odd behaviour exhibited by this new class of maelstroms.
Milky way in the Indian ocean!
Across history, there have been tales narrated by sailors about the mysterious milky colour of the waters in the Indian Ocean. Unable to explain the phenomena, the observation was dismissed by the scientific community. It was only in 2005 that scientists came to acknowledge the existence of this phenomenon and started working to find an explanation. In the Milky Way effect, sizeable areas of the Indian ocean tend to glow so brightly that it may be observed from satellites in space. Even today, we do not have a concrete explanation for this observation. The most plausible explanation is that this could be due to the bioluminescence of the dinoflagellates present in the Indian ocean but, as of now, we do not have adequate proof to establish the hypothesis.
All these observations clearly show that we have barely scratched the surface. There is still a lot of research that needs to be done to broaden our understanding of these mysterious water bodies. The answer to some of the questions may help improve the quality of our lives and provide a better understanding of this strange world of ours. After all, all forms of life that we see rose out of the ocean.
Featured Image Source: Pexels
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