LiveScience: With help from seals, scientists have discovered a new source for the coldest, deepest water in the ocean.
Instruments glued to seals' heads tracked Antarctic Bottom Water flowing down deep canyons off Cape Darnley in East Antarctica. The spot was an unexpected font of the bottom water -- cold, dense, salty water -- because it lacks the broad underwater shelf of the unique current's three known sources. These shallow shelves stick out from the continent's edge. Cold water flows over the edge to...