Scientists recently discovered the sixth largest river in the world. How did the world’s sixth largest river manage to remain undetected for so long? As it turns out, it’s at the bottom of the ocean.
Researchers working in the Black Sea have found currents of water 350 times
greater than the River Thames flowing along the sea bed, carving out
channels much like a river on the land.
The undersea river, which is up to 115ft deep in places, even has rapids and
waterfalls much like its terrestrial equivalents.
The scientists, based at the University of Leeds, used a robotic submarine to
study for the first time a deep channel that had been found on the sea bed.
They found a river of highly salty water flowing along the deep channel at the
bottom of the Black Sea, creating river banks and flood plains much like a
river found on land.
Dr Dan Parsons, from the university’s school of earth and environment, said: “The
water in the channels is denser than the surrounding seawater because it has
higher salinity and is carrying so much sediment.
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