Sargasso Sea

views updated May 08 2018

Sargasso Sea Calm centre of the anticyclonic gyre in the N. Atlantic. This large eddy of surface water has boundaries demarcated by major current systems such as the Gulf Stream, Canary Current, and North Atlantic Drift. The Sargasso Sea is a large, warm (18°C), saline (36.5–37.0 parts per thousand) lens of water, which is characterized by an abundance of floating brown seaweed (Sargassum).

Sargasso Sea

views updated Jun 27 2018

Sargasso Sea The calm centre of the anticyclonic gyre in the North Atlantic, comprising a large eddy of surface water, the boundaries of which are demarcated by major current systems such as the Gulf Stream, Canaries Current, and North Atlantic Drift. The Sargasso Sea is a large, warm (18°C), saline (36.5–37.0 parts per thousand) lens of water, which is characterized by an abundance of floating brown seaweed (Sargassum).

Sargasso Sea

views updated May 14 2018

Sargasso Sea a region of the western Atlantic Ocean between the Azores and the Caribbean, so called because of the prevalence in it of floating sargasso seaweed; known for its usually calm conditions, its name is often used allusively for a congested and stagnant situation.

Sargasso Sea

views updated May 18 2018

Sargasso Sea Area of calm, barely moving water in the n Atlantic between the West Indies and the Azores, which takes its name from the large quantities of floating seaweed (Sargassum) covering its surface.