Two hundred and fifty waves crashing after each other. Such a phenomenon would not seem so special if it had not been detected in … 4,550 meters deep pit in the Romanche, the third deepest ocean trench in the Atlantic Ocean.
Oceanographers have long recognized the phenomenon of internal waves. But this is the first time such a succession of internal waves is recorded.
What is an internal wave ? These are waves which are formed not on the surface but inside the ocean. They are generated by the density differences between the different layers of water that constitute the ocean. By this difference in density, the layers of water do not behave in the same way, which can have the effect of producing internal waves.
Yet it is precisely this phenomenon that has been detected by oceanographer Hans Van Haren (Laboratory NIOZ, Netherlands), in the depths of the Romanche pit.
