Multimedia Gallery
The Discovery FilesMYSTERIOUS OCEAN CURRENT!
The oceans hold many mysteries. One such mystery was the Tasman Leakage, an ocean current that runs only a third to just over a half-mile beneath the surface. Scientists believe it began carrying water around the world more than 7 million years ago, but it was discovered just in the last 20 years. It could reveal important information about world climate history. Learn more at NSF’s “The Discovery Files.
Credit: National Science Foundation
Hi! I’m Mo Barrow with The Discovery Files, from NSF, the U.S. National Science Foundation.
The oceans hold many mysteries. One of those mysteries was the Tasman Leakage, the “TL.”
Though scientists believe it began carrying water around the world more than 7 million years ago, the TL is an ocean current just recently discovered, in the past 20 years.
And it runs only a third to just over a half-mile beneath the surface.
Supported in part by NSF, a team of researchers at Rowan University have been studying the role the TL plays in global ocean circulation and the climate.
A major current, it flows around Southern Australia and links to both the Pacific and Indian Oceans and eventually makes its way to the South Atlantic.
The team analyzed ocean samples and seabed cores to study ancient, deep-water sediments. Their goal is to achieve a better understanding of global water flow, which helps paint a more comprehensive portrait of Earth’s evolution.
The TL was birthed at a time when the planet began to cool and ocean waters receded. Study of this period could reveal important information about climate history.
The oceans still hold many mysteries, its vast seas and rolling tides beckoning us to explore!
Discover how the U.S. National Science Foundation is advancing research at nsf.gov.
Images and other media in the National Science Foundation Multimedia Gallery are available for use in print and electronic material by NSF employees, members of the media, university staff, teachers and the general public. All media in the gallery are intended for personal, educational and nonprofit/non-commercial use only.
Images credited to the National Science Foundation, a federal agency, are in the public domain. The images were created by employees of the United States Government as part of their official duties or prepared by contractors as "works for hire" for NSF. You may freely use NSF-credited images and, at your discretion, credit NSF with a "Courtesy: National Science Foundation" notation.
Additional information about general usage can be found in Conditions.