Antarctica's turbidity currents and the role they play in helping to regulate Earth's climate are to be studied for the first time through a groundbreaking international project.
The Antarctic Canyon Experiment (ACE) will see scientists using state of the art technology to assess the causes and effects of the currents - also known as underwater avalanches - occurring deep in the Southern Ocean.
They hope this will enable them to develop a better understanding of Antarctica's role as one of the planet's primary carbon sinks, given it currently stores around 40% of all the anthropogenic carbon in the ocean.
They also want to explore how its effectiveness in doing this has changed over time, particularly during warmer periods in Earth's history, and how it could be affected by present and future changes in the global climate.
The ACE project, supported by a £2.4million grant from the European Research Council, is being conducted by an international consortium led by
Dr Jenny Gales, Associate Professor in Hydrography and Ocean Exploration at the University of Plymouth.
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