Bottom Water

bottom water, dense, lowermost layer of ocean water that can be distinguished clearly from overlying waters by its characteristic temperature, salinity, and oxygen content. Most bottom waters of the South Pacific, southern Indian Ocean, South Atlantic, and portions of the North Atlantic are formed near Antarctica during the southern winter. The partial freezing of seawater over the Antarctic continental shelf, particularly in the Weddell and Ross seas, produces saltfree ice and residual brine with a salinity of 34.62 parts per thousand and a temperature of -1.9° C (28.6° F). The high density of the brine, 1.02789 grams per cubic centimetre, causes it to sink. It is warmed somewhat during sinking by mixing with other waters, but its temperature is still -0.9° C when it reaches the deep seafloor and continues to flow northward along the bottom. Traced by this temperature, Antarctic bottom water crosses the Equator in the Atlantic and is observed as far north as 45° N latitude, in the vicinity of the Grand Bank.

The Arctic Ocean is less important as a source of bottom water because it is isolated by topographic barriers. The Bering Sill prevents flow into the Pacific, and submarine ridges and banks between Greenland and the British Isles block its entry into the Atlantic. Some bottom water is produced near Greenland from the cooling to -1.4° C of saline Gulf Stream surface water. This water flows southward along the seafloor of the western Atlantic. The oxygen that is dissolved in seawaters at the surface sites of origin of bottom water—in concentrations of 4 to 6 millilitres per litre—is the sole source of this element for benthic life. Sparse deep-sea benthos respire very little oxygen; the concentrations diminish with increased distance of travel of the bottom water away from its source, however, and this trend may be used to identify the sources and estimate the flow velocity of the water. Bottom waters flow very slowly, at velocities of 1 to 2 centimetres per second (0.4 to 0.8 inches per second), except along the western margins of the ocean basins, where velocities of 10 cm/sec have been calculated.