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The sun is shining, for a change, as we head slowly north along the transect. It seems we may have seen our last iceberg and the lengthening periods of darkness at night are another reminder that we are slowly leaving Antarctica behind. We completed another three deep CTD stations overnight. The water depth here is greater than 4500 m, so it takes between 3 and 4 hours to lower and raise the CTD profiler at each stop. The currents have now shifted from the westward flows usually found along the margin of Antarctica to the eastward flow of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The Circumpolar Current is the largest current in the world ocean, carrying about 150 million cubic metres of water each second from west to east around Antarctica. This is about 150 times the flow of all the world’s rivers combined. This massive current system is important to climate because it provides the main connection between the ocean basins. One of the main aims of this part of the voyage is to determine exactly how strong the current is.
Regards, Steve and Barbara
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.