The Southern Ocean is the fourth largest ocean and surrounds Antarctica. It is known for being the coldest and stormiest ocean, with dangerous icebergs and thick drift ice. The wind blows continuously around the Earth at these latitudes, creating the “Furious Fifties” and “Shrieking Sixties”. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current radically cooled the entire Southern Ocean and the continent. The Southern Ocean is the opposite of the Arctic Ocean and is fed by glaciers that calve from Antarctica and then melt. The Southern Ocean is famous for being the site of one of the most impressive boat journeys in history.
The Southern Ocean is the ocean that extends from 60 degrees south to Antarctica. The boundary between the Southern Ocean and the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans is almost at the Antarctic Circle, which is 63.33 degrees South. The Southern Ocean is the fourth largest of the five major oceanic divisions, the largest oceans being the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific, and the smallest ocean being the Arctic.
This ocean is known to be the coldest and stormiest ocean and the second most ice-covered ocean, after the Arctic Ocean. Icebergs are a constant danger here, and thick drift ice prevents ships from approaching the Antarctic mainland during the winter. Occasionally, icebergs are the size of US states like Connecticut.
Since there are no major land masses between the 50th and 60th parallels, the wind blows continuously around the Earth at these latitudes, giving them the nicknames “the Furious Fifties” and “the Shrieking Sixties”. Water ice also circulates on the Antarctic continent in an infinite eastward direction, constituting the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. 30 million years ago, this current did not exist, as it was blocked by a land connection between South America and Antarctica. At the time, large portions of the Antarctic continent were glacier-free, but the formation of the current radically cooled the entire Southern Ocean and the continent.
In a sense, the Southern Ocean is considered the opposite of the other polar ocean, the Arctic Ocean. Instead of separating continents, the Southern Ocean surrounds one. Instead of being a warmer moderator than the surrounding cold lands, the Southern Ocean causes the land to cool. Instead of being fed by rivers, the Southern Ocean is fed by glaciers that calve from Antarctica and then melt. Instead of ice forming away from land, as is the case in the Arctic Ocean, ice in the Southern Ocean forms more along land.
The Southern Ocean is famous for being the site of one of the most impressive boat journeys in history, where explorers of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition became stranded due to their lead ship, Endurance, becoming trapped in ice. After abandoning ship, the group camped on the ice for six months until it broke up and their lifeboats embarked. They then traveled to Elephant Island, one of the northernmost islands of the Antarctic Peninsula. A small party of just six men set off in the reinforced lifeboat James Caird, traveling 800 miles (1,300 km) across the Southern Ocean to reach South Georgia Island, where they could call for help for the rest of the party. Despite all odds, the party managed to reach South Georgia, the only party ever to cross the Southern Ocean in an open boat.
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