Link Between Climate Change and Ocean Currents Discovered: Impacts on the Deep Sea

Just like in the disaster movie, "The Day After Tomorrow," there may be a link between climate change and ocean currents. Scientists have analyzed an area of the Atlantic near the Strait of Gibraltar and have found a relationship between climate and currents that stretch back over six million years.

In order to better understand how climate and the ocean might be related, the researchers examined core samples from the seabed off of the coast of Spain and Portugal. This, in particular, provided proof of shifts of climate change over millions of years. They also found evidence of stronger bottom currents during the time.

In fact, the researchers found that a powerful cascade of Mediterranean water spilling into the Atlantic scoured the rocky sea floor. This carved deep-sea channels and built up mountains of sand. This is mostly due to Mediterranean water being saltier than Atlantic water, which causes it to be more dense and flow beneath.

"The sediments we examined show various shifts of climate change over millions of years," said Javier Hernandez-Molina, one of the researchers, in a news release. "In addition, our findings could herald a significant shift in future targets for oil and gas exploration in deep-water settings."

The findings reveal that there is a link between climate and currents. As the climate changes so do currents. This, in turn, could mean that our oceanic currents could shift as our climate continues to warm.

"We set out to understand how the Strait of Gibralter acted first as a barrier and then a gateway over the past six million years," said Hernandez-Molina in a news release. "The fascinating results we came back with have hugely increased our understanding of the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) that flows through the Gibraltar gateway and have led to some key discoveries about the relationship between climatic shifts, deep-water circulation and plate tectonic events over a huge timescale."

The findings are published in the journal Science.