However, the magic of this world is that it will always go beyond your imagination and let you see the wonders of nature in a unique way.
Cape Horn, located at the southernmost tip of South America, is the intersection of the two largest oceans on earth-the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Although they belong to two oceans, they are all salty waters surging, and there should be no difference in essence. Surprisingly, it is here that we can clearly see the dividing line between the two oceans. Moreover, this dividing line is not artificial, but naturally formed.
At both ends of this dividing line, the waters of the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean show different colors. They are as incompatible as water and fire.
Strange, it's also water, and there's nothing to stop it. The waters of the two oceans can't meet, so why draw a clear line consciously?
Although some people think of supernatural phenomena, there is no real thing to divide them, and it is impossible for seawater to spontaneously and honestly stay in its own ocean. In fact, although water with the molecular formula H2O accounts for most of the seawater flowing in the two oceans, there are still some differences between them.
As we all know, there is sodium chloride, the so-called salt, in addition to water in seawater, but the components in seawater are far more than that. Seawater in different sea areas contains different components, different proportions and different forms of chemicals, making seawater like a huge solution. The chemical composition of "solutions" in different oceans is different, so the properties such as salinity and density are also different. The difference in color is the macro expression of different chemical compositions.
Jacques-yves cousteau, a famous French explorer, discovered a magical phenomenon while diving deeply in the Strait of Gibraltar. At different depths, seawater is layered like a transparent barrier, and two adjacent layers of seawater flow by themselves without interference. This phenomenon is called halocline, and its main reason lies in the difference of substance and concentration. On both sides of the halocline, animals and plants show great differences, and there are generally few creatures near the halocline.
The obvious dividing line between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean can be understood as a horizontal halocline phenomenon, and the physical and biological properties of the two waters are different. On both sides of the dividing line, the salt content of seawater is different. Studies show that the salinity of the Atlantic Ocean is about 37‰, while the salinity of the Pacific Ocean on the other side is 34‰, which leads to the different colors of the two pieces of seawater.
The difference of salt concentration between the two oceans lies in the difference of precipitation. The evaporation of Atlantic seawater is relatively large, so the salt content of seawater is relatively high; Rain broke over the Pacific Ocean, which led to the dilution of seawater and relatively low salt concentration.
In fact, when we are at home, we can also create the thermocline phenomenon ourselves. For example, if seawater or a colored salt solution is poured into a glass, and then some water is poured, you will also see the phenomenon of stratification. To some extent, cocktail stratification is a similar principle.
Even so, many people still have questions. After all, the vertical stratification of liquid comes from the influence of gravity. If so, why don't the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean adapt to the distribution of seawater with different densities, but separate horizontally?
First of all, from the above data, it can be found that the difference in salt concentration between the two oceans is not exaggerated, so the difference in density is not so great that one of them will not sink completely.
The second is inertia, which is mainly reflected in Coriolis force. The simple explanation is that the earth itself is spinning, which causes the sea water on the surface to be subjected to Coriolis force, thus deviating from its own trajectory. Therefore, the sea will not go straight ahead, but the northern hemisphere will rotate clockwise and the southern hemisphere will rotate counterclockwise. Under the action of Coriolis force, the waters of the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean will move in opposite directions at the junction, which is also the reason why the two waters cannot meet.
In addition, there is another difference between the waters of the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, that is, their surface tension. The so-called surface tension is the tension between molecules of a substance, and the macroscopic expression is to reduce the force on the surface of the liquid as much as possible, that is, the reason why a drop of water will appear spherical. Because of the different surface tensions between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, these two waters will "catch" their companions tightly and prevent them from merging with the other.
Of course, if the conditions are ideal, in the long years, the water on both sides of the strait will still have the opportunity to penetrate and merge with each other. But the problem is that the conditions can't be ideal. After all, the seawater on both sides of the joint moves in opposite directions, and the water molecules on both sides are taken away by the current before they meet and hold together, which makes the seawater have no chance to merge together stably.
Moreover, this geographical location has also led to an amazing 50 cm gap between the water surface of the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean-of course, this is not at the junction, but the average water surface height. This phenomenon is also caused by the rotation of the earth from west to east and the fact that the Pacific Ocean is located on the west side of the Atlantic Ocean. It's like having half a glass of water in front of you. When you push the cup, the water will tilt.
Having said that, you may understand that according to the principle mentioned above, there should be more than one place in the world where two currents meet but will not merge. This phenomenon was seen by our ancestors thousands of years ago. There is a saying in The Book of Songs Li Feng Gu Feng: "Jing is muddy, muddy." This sentence later evolved into a well-known idiom, that is, "distinct", which refers to the phenomenon that the water mirror meets the Weihe River, but it is clear and turbid.
In addition to the halocline mentioned above, there is also a concept called thermocline. I believe you can understand by analogy that thermocline is the dividing line of seawater with different temperatures. For example, there will be a clear dividing line between the Mexican warm current and the colder North Atlantic.