Knowra Southern Ocean Southern Ocean The ocean surrounding Antarctica, conventionally extending north to 60° south latitude. Its circumpolar currents connect the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans.
Antarctic Circumpolar Current : The eastward current flowing continuously around Antarctica, linking the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. It encircles the continent and helps define the Southern Ocean’s distinctive circulation.
Antarctic sea ice : Seasonal and persistent sea ice that forms from seawater around Antarctica. Its extent and timing shape habitats, ocean-atmosphere exchange, and climate.
Southern Ocean boundary : The geographic limit used to distinguish the Southern Ocean from neighboring oceans. The conventional 60° south limit gives this page’s ocean its defined extent.
Atlantic Ocean : The ocean basin between the Americas and Europe and Africa, extending into the Southern Hemisphere. Its southern waters meet the Southern Ocean at the conventional boundary.
Antarctic Bottom Water : A cold, dense water mass formed near Antarctica that spreads along the ocean floor. Its formation exports dense water from the Southern Ocean into the global deep ocean.
Southern Ocean carbon sink : The uptake and storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide by Southern Ocean waters and ecosystems. This ocean absorbs a substantial share of human-emitted carbon dioxide.
International Hydrographic Organization : An intergovernmental organization that coordinates standards for hydrography and nautical charting. Its work has influenced how ocean regions and their boundaries are named.
Indian Ocean : The ocean basin bordered by Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Southern Ocean. Older geographic schemes treated its southern reaches as part of the Indian Ocean.
Southern Ocean overturning circulation : The exchange of surface and deep waters that upwells, transforms, and sinks around Antarctica. It links wind-driven upwelling to the formation of deep and bottom waters.
Southern Ocean ecosystems : Marine communities shaped by cold waters, seasonal light, sea ice, and abundant plankton. Distinctive food webs support wildlife and respond to changing ice and temperature.
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