Is it possible to see the border of the sea? Why do the boundaries of the seas not mix? Where do the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea meet?
Why the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans do not mix, you will learn from this article.
Why don't the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans mix?
There is a place in the Gulf of Alaska where the Atlantic and Pacific oceans meet, but their waters do not mix. As you already understood, this phenomenon can be observed in the southwestern part of the Alaska coast.
Have you ever wondered why the two oceans in the Gulf of Alaska don't mix? One reason for this is fresh, meltwater from glaciers that enters the ocean, whose water is lighter. Created the difference in density and level of salt in the waters of the oceans, which prevents its mixing. E then the conventional border of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans created only by a strip of foam. The scientific name for this phenomenon is halocline (salinity jump layer), which denotes the transitional boundary between water with different salinities. The water of one ocean is 5 times saltier than another.
This amazing phenomenon was first observed by traveler, scientist and oceanographer Jacques Yves Cousteau when he explored the waters of the Strait of Gibraltar. He showed the world the existence of two layers of water that do not mix with each other. The waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are, as it were, separated by a film that creates clear boundaries. And of course, they are very different from each other - each layer has its own characteristic temperature, salt composition, flora and fauna, even the color of the water. And this is the most amazing thing.
A not-so-rare phenomenon is a visible boundary between connected bodies of water: two seas, a sea and an ocean, a river and a tributary, etc. And yet, it always looks so unusual that you can’t help but wonder: why don’t their waters mix?
1. North Sea and Baltic Sea
The meeting point of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea near Skagen, Denmark. Water does not mix due to different densities.
2. Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean
3. Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean
The meeting point of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Antilles region.
The meeting place of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean on the island of Eleuthera, Bahamas. On the left is the Caribbean Sea (turquoise water), on the right is the Atlantic Ocean (blue water).
4. Suriname River and Atlantic Ocean
The meeting point of the Suriname River and the Atlantic Ocean in South America.
5. Uruguay River and its tributary
The confluence of the Uruguay River and its tributary in the province of Misiones, Argentina. One of them is cleared for agricultural needs, the other becomes almost red with clay during the rainy season.
6. Rio Negro and Solimões (Amazon section)
7. Moselle and Rhine
The confluence of the Moselle and Rhine rivers in Koblenz, Germany. The Rhine is lighter, the Moselle is darker.
8. Ilts, Danube and Inn
The confluence of the three rivers Ilz, Danube and Inn in Passau, Germany. Ilts is a small mountain river (in the 3rd photo in the lower left corner), the Danube in the middle and the light-colored Inn. Although the Inn is wider and deeper than the Danube at its confluence, it is considered a tributary.
9. Alaknanda and Bhagirathi
The confluence of the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers in Devaprayag, India. Alaknanda is dark, Bhagirathi is light.
10. Irtysh and Ulba
The confluence of the Irtysh and Ulba rivers in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan. The Irtysh is clean, the Ulba is muddy.
11. Jialing and Yangtze
The confluence of the Jialing and Yangtze rivers in Chongqing, China. The Jialing River stretches for 119 km. In the city of Chongqing it flows into the Yangtze River. The clear waters of Jialing meet the brown waters of the Yangtze.
12. Irtysh and Om
The confluence of the Irtysh and Om rivers in Omsk, Russia. The Irtysh is muddy, the Om is transparent.
13. Irtysh and Tobol
The confluence of the Irtysh and Tobol rivers near Tobolsk, Tyumen region, Russia. The Irtysh is light, muddy, the Tobol is dark, transparent.
14. Chuya and Katun
The confluence of the Chuya and Katun rivers in the Ongudai region of the Altai Republic, Russia. The water of the Chuya in this place (after confluence with the Chaganuzun River) acquires an unusual cloudy white lead color and seems dense and thick. Katun is clean and turquoise. Combining together, they form a single two-color stream with a clear boundary and flow for some time without mixing.
15. Green and Colorado
Confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers in Canyonlands National Park, Utah, USA. Green is green and Colorado is brown. The beds of these rivers run through rocks of different composition, which is why the colors of the water are so contrasting.
16. Rona and Arv
The confluence of the Rhone and Arve rivers in Geneva, Switzerland. The river on the left is the transparent Rhône, which emerges from Lake Leman. The river on the right is the muddy Arve, which is fed by the many glaciers of the Chamonix valley.
All the myths cannot be broken at once, especially when they are created daily by those who wish, but as such questions arise and a little technical or analytical research is carried out, it is possible, and I would even say necessary.
Just recently, one of my old acquaintances and good friends, whom we had not seen for a long time, wrote to me. Nothing out of the ordinary “hello, how are you, long time no see,” and also in the text of the letter, he said that he had read my works and decided to ask a question that had been tormenting him for a long time - Why in some places fresh and salt sea water do not mix. Thus, the topic for the next post in LabOrder (order laboratory) was determined.
I have already encountered this question, and often in conversations with the same people - religious ones, who, at every opportunity, mentioned that the Holy Quran says that fresh and salt water do not mix, and used this statement as an argument in favor of the fact that this book knows something that science still cannot explain. Previously, I simply brushed aside such “arguments” due to the fact that I am an agnostic, and I have an irreparable conviction that often religion either incorrectly interprets physical phenomena, or creates and demonstrates certain tricks in order to attract more adherents to its ranks. But since a person asked, especially an old friend of mine, let’s figure it out.
First, let's ask the holy book what it says about immiscible waters, specifically and in the text. Why in the text? Often everyone interprets certain words, in an unknown translation, and passes off wishful thinking as reality.
Since this sura consists of 77 ayats, we will consider only the ayat that is necessary for us where this statement about not mixing water is mentioned. ayat
<<25:53. Аллах - Тот, кто создал два моря рядом: в одном море - пресная вода, а в другом море - солёная. Оба моря рядом друг с другом, но Он поставил нерушимую преграду между ними, и они не смешиваются благодаря благоволению Аллаха и Его милосердию к людям>>
But even on this site there is already a substitution of concepts and reinterpretation of original statements. So I ask people who read such literature to be careful. Here, for example, is the translation of the Koran by Valeria Porokhova (Al Furqan 25:53):
<<Он - Тот, Кто в путь пустил два моря:
Pleasant and fresh - one thing,
Salty and bitter are different.
He placed a barrier between them -
Such an indestructible barrier,
(Which never allows them to merge)>>
It should also be noted that this phenomenon is repeated in Surah verses 19-20.
Pleasant and fresh - Salty and bitter. Well, now it is more or less reliably clear what, where and where from. It is quite possible that the example of the seas is a metaphor and nothing more. But let's say even that.
In general, I repeat that the main argument is often that the Holy Book mentions a truth that was not yet known to science. And they even say that the famous scuba inventor and oceanographer Jacques Cousteau converted to Islam when he first saw this phenomenon in reality. But I’m afraid that this might happen, like with astronaut Armstrong.
In order to begin to understand this problem, we need to list the places on the planet and the conditions in which a similar phenomenon is observed, where water from one body of water does not mix with water from another.
<< Галоклин - слой воды, в котором солёность резко изменяется с глубиной (наблюдается большой вертикальный градиент солёности). Один из видов хемоклина. Ввиду того, что солёность влияет на плотность воды, галоклин может играть роль в её вертикальной стратификации (англ.) (расслоении). Повышение солёности на 1 кг/м3 приводит к увеличению плотности морской воды приблизительно на 0,7 кг/м3 >>
<<…А. И. Воейков впервые дал верное объяснение наличию теплой воды на глубинах северной части Индийского океана. Он утверждал, что В БАБ-ЭЛЬ-МАНДЕБСКОМ ПРОЛИВЕ ДОЛЖНО СУЩЕСТВОВАТЬ НИЖНЕЕ ТЕЧЕНИЕ ОЧЕНЬ ТЕПЛОЙ И СОЛЕНОЙ ВОДЫ ИЗ КРАСНОГО МОРЯ В ИНДИЙСКИЙ ОКЕАН. Впоследствии это БЫЛО ДВАЖДЫ ПОДТВЕРЖДЕНО НАБЛЮДЕНИЯМИ в указанном проливе: во время плаваний С. О. МАКАРОВА на «Витязе» в 1886-1889 гг. И АНГЛИЙСКОЙ ЭКСПЕДИЦИЕЙ на судне «Старк» в 1898 г.>>
2) Strait of Gibraltar - between the Iberian Peninsula and the northwestern coast of Africa, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
If you believe this photo, it was taken in this exact place. And the interface that is visible on it is the difference in salinity, which for some reason does not mix.
Again, there are no reliable sources of information that this phenomenon can be observed in this form as shown in the picture above, again except for you know what sites. Moreover, different sources assign different locations to this photograph. Okay, let’s see where we have “fresh” and where we have “salt”. The Atlantic Ocean is salty, as is the Mediterranean Sea, which is saltier than the ocean itself. It has been established that the water exchange between these two reservoirs along the upper reaches brings 42.3 thousand km3 of water into the Mediterranean Sea, and the lower reaches 40.8 thousand km3 of water per year from the sea. What kind of “non-mixing” of water we are talking about here, one can only guess.
Also, if you believe Valeria Porokhova herself, this barrier and clear separation is observed in almost every river that flows into any sea (in the video from 2:00). Yeah, especially where we are talking about the Volga and the Caspian Sea, where could the astronaut see the dividing line? History is silent.
Watch your hands.
Obviously, and most likely, the first thing that surprises people is the clear separation boundary, which is shown in the photographs to confirm that the water really does not mix. But my dears, how can water not mix if global water exchange is almost a fundamental law. Only partially, a relatively blurred interface can be observed due to a number of physical phenomena that can be observed either temporarily or at different depths depending on the changing water temperature, salinity, surface tension and the directions of currents carrying it at different speeds, thereby slowing down the diffusion process. I repeat, regarding the clear dividing line that some people claim and the lack of water exchange, in such places, alas, there are no official and reliable sources.
Why not cite as confirmation an isolated lake that would have a similar clear section, a “sweet - slide” of water. Maybe because there is no such thing?
More and more often, straits and connections between rivers and seas are cited as examples. As a result of the connection of two different waters, where the phenomenon appears on which the diffusion process takes place according to the above factors. Why, for example, is no one surprised by such an interface found in nature?
Maybe because these obvious things were simply not written in the Holy Scriptures?
On the other hand, no one claims that in the Holy Book there is a detailed explanation of anything except that this was done by God and in His Name!
What is the root of this trick? Yes, the fact is that this was already described in the Koran 1400 years ago, and science is only now making similar discoveries. Well, okay. Science, in addition to making discoveries, also tries to explain them; this, by the way, is its key difference from any religion that simply points to God.
That is, what do deeply religious people want to convey to us? And the fact that 1400 years ago, the only one who knew that when two water reservoirs were connected there would be some sort of boundary was the Holy Scripture, the Koran. And until this moment, for some reason, no one noticed this phenomenon among people who had already been using the fleet with all their might for at least 4000 years. That's it.
And finally, watch this video (I didn’t give it the title). Do you still think that deeply religious people who mix reality with faith are capable of professionalism in one profession or another? Especially such as pilots, doctors, scientists, physicists, teachers, designers, etc. ..?
There are many mysterious places and phenomena on Earth. One of such phenomena can be called the meeting of reservoirs whose waters do not mix. Many believe that these are the laws of physics, others consider them an inexplicable anomaly, and still others attribute this phenomenon to the vagaries of nature.
Jacques Cousteau and the Strait of Gibraltar
In 1967, German scientists tried to find out the reasons why the waters of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea do not mix in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Jacques Cousteau decided to follow the example of his colleagues and study the non-mixing of the water column of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea in the Strait of Gibraltar by analyzing the density and salinity of the waters.
The scientist believed that over many millennia the waters of the two reservoirs should have mixed. But even in those places where the sea and ocean seem to touch each other, they still retain their distinctive features.
What is surface tension of water
As it turned out, the reason for the non-mixing of waters of different reservoirs lies in the tension of the surface, and this is the main parameter of water. Without going deep into physics: this is the force thanks to which water molecules can connect with each other, so a drop, a puddle, a stream, etc. appear. And the stronger the surface tension, the less volatility of the liquid.
Well, for example, alcohol has a very weak molecular binding force, so when it comes into contact with air it quickly evaporates. Fortunately, water has a very large value for this parameter, so there is still life on our planet.
You can visualize what surface tension is. To do this, take a bowl and slowly pour tea into it to the very brim. For some time, the tea will not overflow over the edges, and if you look closely, you can see a thin film on the surface of the drink, which will try to prevent the tea from spilling. This is what happens with reservoirs; each has its own surface tension, which, like a wall, prevents one reservoir from flowing into another.
Where can you see the boundaries between bodies of water?
In the northernmost part of Denmark, namely in the city of Skagen, the waters of the Baltic and North Seas meet. The Danes call the borders of the coast in Skagen “the end of the world”:
- Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, Antilles
- Rio Negro and Solimões rivers, Brazil
- Uruguay River and its tributary, Argentina
- Green and Colorado Rivers, Utah, USA
- Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers, India
- Jialing and Yangtze Rivers, China
- Chuya and Katun rivers, Russia
- Rivers Moselle and Rhine, Germany
- Three rivers: Inn, Danube and Ilz, Germany
- Rivers Rhone and Arve, Switzerland
By the way, adherents of the Muslim faith are convinced that water bodies do not mix because Allah commanded so, because this was written in the Koran even before the moment when the natural phenomenon became known to science. They say that Jacques Cousteau converted to Islam only because he read about the non-mixing of waters in the Koran, and then was able to see all this in reality.
Miracle of the Qur'an: the seas that do not mix
Sura 55 "The Merciful":
19. He mixed the two seas that meet each other.
20. There is a barrier between them that they cannot cross.
Sura 25 "Discrimination":
53. He is the One Who mixed two seas (types of water): one is pleasant, fresh, and the other is salty, bitter. He placed a barrier and an insurmountable obstacle between them.
While exploring the expanses of water in the Strait of Gibraltar, Jacques Cousteau discovered an amazing fact, not explained by science: the existence of two water columns that do not mix with each other. They seem to be separated by a film and have a clear boundary between them. Each of them has its own temperature, its own salt composition, flora and fauna. These are the waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean touching each other in the Strait of Gibraltar.
“In 1962,” says Jacques Cousteau, “German scientists discovered that in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, where the waters of the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea converge, the waters of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean do not mix. Following the example of our colleagues, we began to find out whether the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea mix. First we examined the water of the Mediterranean Sea - its natural level of salinity, density and the life forms inherent in it. We did the same thing in the Atlantic Ocean. These two masses of water have been meeting in the Strait of Gibraltar for thousands of years and it would be logical to assume that these two huge water masses should have mixed long ago - their salinity and density should have become the same, or at least similar. But even in the places where they converge closest, each of them retains its properties. In other words, at the confluence of two masses of water, the water curtain did not allow them to mix.”
When he discovered this obvious and incredible fact, the scientist was extremely surprised. “For a long time I rested on the laurels of this amazing phenomenon, inexplicable by the laws of physics and chemistry,” writes Cousteau.
But the scientist experienced even greater surprise and admiration when he learned that this was written about in the Koran 1,400 years ago. He learned about this from Dr. Maurice Bucaille, a Frenchman who converted to Islam.
“When I told him about my discovery, he skeptically told me that this was said in the Koran 1400 years ago. It was like a bolt from the blue for me. And indeed, this is how it turned out when I looked at the translations of the Koran. Then I exclaimed: “I swear that this Koran, from which modern science lags behind by 1400 years, cannot be the speech of man. This is the true speech of the Almighty.” After that, I accepted Islam and every day I was amazed at the truth, justice, ease, and usefulness of this religion. I am eternally grateful that He opened my eyes to the Truth,” Cousteau further writes.