New Simulations Reveal How Earth's Strongest Ocean Current Got Started
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New simulations suggest the Antarctic Circumpolar Current formed about 34 million years ago.
The current likely emerged after new ocean passageways opened as Australia and South America drifted north.
It flows clockwise around Antarctica and is about five times stronger than the Gulf Stream.
Scientists led by the Alfred Wegener Institute modeled Earth about 33.5 million years ago.
Their runs used ocean, atmosphere, land, and Antarctic ice-sheet data, and point to strong westerly winds through the Tasman Gateway plus a CO2 drop from about 1,000 to 600 ppm in under a million years.