The total volume of water on the planet is about 1.39 billion cubic meters. It’s no surprise that sometimes photos of water features look fantastic. Feiky.net editors decided to find out the history of one of the most unusual pictures of the hydrosphere.
The waters in the photo are painted in different colors. The left half has a greenish tint. But the second, right, has a rich blue tone. This is where the Pacific Ocean meets the Atlantic. Why do two oceans that converge in one place have such a pronounced contrast?
Hydrologists explain all because of the difference in the chemical composition of the waters. These oceans have different densities, salinities, biodiversity, and even temperature regimes. All this prevents the mixing of waters.
Such a phenomenon, when there is a pronounced difference between the connecting reservoirs, is called a halocline. This can be observed off the coast of Denmark, in the North Sea, on the border with the Baltic Sea. It looks no less beautiful in Gibraltar, where the White and Barents Seas meet.
Hundreds of thousands of travelers come to see the halocline every year. And this is not surprising: from a bird’s eye view, such a pronounced boundary between the waters of different oceans looks simply incredible.
