Why is it called Sargasso Sea?

Why is it called Sargasso Sea?

The Sargasso Sea is a vast patch of ocean named for a genus of free-floating seaweed called Sargassum. Sargassum provides a home to an amazing variety of marine species. Turtles use sargassum mats as nurseries where hatchlings have food and shelter.

How old is the Sargasso Sea?

Some Portuguese sailors first discovered Sargasso Sea with its mat of seaweed in the early 15th century. Even Christopher Columbus who sailed through it in 1492 with his fleet of three ships and 90 men, thought that he must had reached the land as he looked at the vast stretch of dense brown surface.

How far offshore is the Sargasso Sea?

The Sargasso Sea is 700 statute miles wide and 2,000 statute miles long (1,100 km wide and 3,200 km long). Bermuda is near the western fringes of the sea. The Sargasso Sea is the only “sea” without shores. The ocean water in the Sargasso Sea is different for its deep blue color and exceptional clarity.

Why Sargasso Sea has no coastline?

Named after Sargassum, a species of seaweed that covers the area’s waters, the Sargasso Sea is the only sea without shores or coastlines. These currents form a clockwise-circulating gyre that surrounds the Sargasso Sea much like a terrestrial coastline would.

What is the roughest sea on earth?

The Drake Passage – The World’s Most Unforgettable Sea Crossing. From the tip of the South American continent to the northernmost shores of Antarctica: here’s where you’ll find the reputed roughest sea-passage in the world.

What is the salinity of the Sargasso Sea?

Also, the water in the Sargasso Sea is said to be salty and warm, maintaining a salinity around 36% and euphotic zone temperature up to 22°C. For these reasons, even though there are several species of plankton and massive amounts of seaweed floating on the water surface, the Sargasso Sea is still not nutritious enough to attract large communities of fishes.

What is the depth of the Sargasso Sea?

The sea reaches depths of 5,000–23,000 feet (1,500–7,000 m) and is characterized by weak currents, low precipitation, high evaporation, light winds, and warm, saline waters, all combining with the lack of thermal mixing to create a biological desert largely devoid of plankton, a basic food supply for fish.

What does Sargasso Sea mean?

Sargasso Sea. n. (Placename) a calm area of the N Atlantic, between the Caribbean and the Azores , where there is an abundance of floating seaweed of the genus Sargassum .

What is Sargasso seaweed?

Sargasso seaweed ( Sargassum ) is marine algae that are so abundant in the ocean that it now “clogs” several of our coastal and fishing areas around Dominica and neighboring islands.

Why is it called Sargasso Sea? The Sargasso Sea is a vast patch of ocean named for a genus of free-floating seaweed called Sargassum. Sargassum provides a home to an amazing variety of marine species. Turtles use sargassum mats as nurseries where hatchlings have food and shelter. How old is the Sargasso Sea? Some Portuguese…