"Hydrography: The world's 'new' ocean"
The 30m-year-old Southern Ocean, from Antarctica to a latitude of 60° south, will now be given the same status, and typeface in maps, as the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Mapmakers often use land to mark the boundaries of oceans and seas. But where two waters converge, science is needed. The waters of the Southern Ocean are kept cold by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, for example, which has allowed a distinct ecosystem to develop.
Image via Wikipedia.
