>It's my understanding that the southern ocean really is a separate
>body of water,
>basically a southern gyre that circulates around the pole and keeps
>to itself to a great degree.

>
>>  But where do you draw logical boundaries for the "Antarctic Ocean"? This
>so-called entity is really arbitrary, and technically speaking there is no
>such ocean, merely the south Pacific, Atlantic & Indian.
>
>Well, but if you define an ocean as a body of water, not a basin filled with
>water, then the 'Southern' or 'Antarctic Ocean' is a body of water that
>encircles Antarctica and consists of very cold water that is slightly
>saltier than the rest of the world ocean, because part of the water is
>removed by freezing while most of the salt remains dissolved.

That is a good way of defining this ocean element without resorting
to geography.

>Its surface is
>also considerably richer in oxygen than the world ocean because cold water
>can dissolve more oxygen than warm water, and the whole mass of water tends
>to descend because salty water is relatively heavy -- carrying that nice
>oxygen down to help keep the abyss sweet.* All of which give the water a
>distinctive 'Southern Ocean' biota.

Also means the Southern Ocean includes much of the bottom layers of
the other main oceans as far north as at least the equator.  ;-}

>But as a New Zealand scholar you know
>this already, eh! Just checking to see if the rest of us know, eh?

Yes, but I HAD forgotten! It's good to have one's memory jogged from
time to time.
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin, New Zealand
64 (3) 473-8863
<[log in to unmask]>
Fossil preparator
Seashell, Macintosh & VW/Toyota van nut
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I want your sinistral gastropods!
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Opinions in this e-mail are my own, not those of my institution
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A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
Q: Why is top posting frowned upon?