The Tasman Sea’s giant tides are to be studied as part of a project to improve climate forecasts and locate more productive fisheries.
Scientists from the US and Canada have joined forces with Australian researchers to study giant underwater waves at the tidal hotspot.
Associate Professor Pete Strutton, from the University of Tasmania, said underwater waves played a significant role in the global climate system by transporting heat around the ocean and helping it absorb carbon dioxide.
“As well as mixing cold water up and warm water down, internal waves mix nutrients or fertiliser into the surface layers of the ocean where the plankton can take advantage of them and also take advantage of the sunlight to be productive,” he said.
Dr Matthew Alford, from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the US, said Hobart was chosen as the final port to prepare for the ground breaking 10-week Tasman Tides voyage.
“This is kind of one of the graveyards of waves… where they are actually going to break and leave a lot of their energy right here in Tasmania,’ he said.
“It’s just a real treat to get to work in such a gorgeous place.”
Experts will study waves that occur beneath the surface of the ocean and move layers of water up and down hundreds of metres.
Dr Alford described the waves as the bloodstream of the ocean.
“Cold water sinks, then these waves help that water warm up,” he said.
“The waves that we’re going to be studying in a few days here are on their way right now from New Zealand.
“So they were generated a couple of days ago and it takes them about a week to make their way across the Tasman sea.”
Seafood industry to benefit from research
During the study scientists will anchor 15 deep-sea moorings up to 4.5 kilometres beneath the surface.
They will also use gliders and satellites to collect data that will be processed with a super computer.
Associate Professor Strutton said he hoped the research would improve climate modelling, particularly in relation to sea level rise.
“We can look at the images from the satellite and we can compare them with the measurements that we’re making in the ocean to better understand productivity at large spacial scales which is a big problem in oceanography because the oceans are so vast.”
He said it could also help improve the productivity of the seafood industry.
“Any information that we have about where the oceans are productive and where they aren’t can help us understand where there might be productive fisheries,” he said.