Not a fact anymore
Water in the deep ocean is stagnant and largely isolated from global circulation.
What we know now
The deep ocean participates in slow, global circulation driven by density differences, winds, mixing, and interactions with the seafloor and atmosphere.
Why it changed
Surface currents were easy to observe, while movement in the dark deep ocean was slow and difficult to measure. Temperature, salinity, tracers, current meters, and global expeditions revealed connected deep-water masses.
- Status
- Overturned
- Category
- Ocean Science
- Accepted for
- ≈107 years
- Accepted approximately
- Before modern physical oceanography
- Changed approximately
- 19th–20th centuries