The Deep Ocean Waves

 

Because of the difficulties that ships had in sailing, men have always feared the deep sea and created legends about it. The ancient Romans believed that there were absorbent fish in the ocean depths that could paralyze ship movement, and others believed that strange savage animals lived there, such as the Danish-Norwegian missionary Hans Egede, who claimed that on a trip to Good Hope/Nook on Greenland's west coast in July 1734, he saw a horrible, strange creature that suddenly split the sea, rising his head above sea level to look higher than the ship's mast. The mysterious creature had a small head and a wrinkled body, and he was propelled through the water by giant fins. Later, the sailors noticed his tail, which was longer than the entire ship.^[1]

 

Sea serpent reported by Hans Egede in 1734, probably a giant squid

 

Because the means and techniques to explore the deep sea were not yet available, the sailors had no real knowledge of the conditions there. When it comes to ocean waves, oceanographer Willard Bascom claims that they are so complex that no scientific data has been provided by all seafarers and sea travelers.^[2]

 

Deep oceanography did not begin until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the necessary equipment and techniques were available to build advanced submarines. The depths were probed using sound wave echo in 1920, and in 1930, Otis Barton and William Beebe were able to dive for the first time to 920 meters using a spherical submarine designed by Barton, as well as face masks, fins, and a breathing tube.^[3]

 

In 1938, a breathing flask and breathing valve were created by Captain Cousteau. However, the surprise came on 13 December 2007, when the London-based Telegraph published an article entitled" Scientists discover waves in the depths of the ocean".

 

The discovery of these deep waves, according to this news, surprised scientists because they did not expect to see waves similar to sea surface waves at these depths:

 

These waves have been detected and tracked as they run eastward using robots dedicated to exploring ocean depths at approximately 1,600 meters.  The formation of these waves, also called Kelvin Waves, is due to the warming of ocean waters at the equator, resulting in a deep-water movement between hot spots at the equator and cold near the North and South Poles, which are much longer, higher and less rapid than those we enjoy watching at the seaside.

 Scientists were surprised by the presence of these waves at those depths, Professor Karen Heywood, who was involved in this research, said:

 "We were amazed and delighted!” We were expecting something at a depth of 50 meters, as indicated by satellite images, but we were excited by the fact that we found these waves at a depth of about 1,600 meters, and that opens the possibility that there are waves at greater depths."

 Dr. Adrian Matthews, who was leading this research, said: “We thought waves could not be encountered at depths of more than 200 meters."

 Scientists confirmed at the end of 2007 that this discovery happens for the first time and that it will be a leap in the study of the oceans and the environment in general. Scientists continued mobilizing to learn more about these puzzling waves: in a new study conducted in October 2013 sponsored by the University of Washington, the largest deep waves ever known were discovered.

 An analysis of information collected from the dark depths of the Pacific Ocean has shown waves reaching 300 meters high, nearly the height of a skyscraper. These were found at a depth of 5,000 meters where the water's characteristics, density, height, intensity, were recorded. These waves were formed at the said depth, and took an hour or more to break; they were very deep and dark and the water layer below them was very dense.

 These deep waves are necessary to keep ocean waters unspoiled over thousands of years, as the mixing of ocean water through these waves helps to distribute salinity between the deep and the upper layers of water, which is essential for the continuation of life in the seas and oceans.

 

 Huge weird UNDERWATER waves spanning hundreds of miles spotted from the International Space Station on the left side as semi-circular lines.

 

Deep waves are caused by the different density of deep water from the water above, as well as the diverse terrain on the ocean floor, which includes mountains, valleys, narrow corridors, and pits. Outcrops generate giant waves when deep water currents pass through them.

 

An image simulating the ocean floor and seeing waves that may be as high as a skyscraper (300 meters) and which cover a very dark area of the deep ocean.

 

In a few words, we could describe the depths of the ocean as a deep environment disturbed by enormous prevailing waves, with pressures of more than 500 kilograms per square centimeter. This pressure can crush any object that ventures into these depths, which are either too dark or completely dark (if you raise your hand, you can hardly see it).

 For the record, the human body is unlikely to dive deeper than 30 meters; beyond this depth, the pressure on a human's body exceeds three atmospheric pressures. This causes the nitrogen inhaled by the diver to dissolve in his blood, causing him to lose control of his body.

 

After diving to more than 200 meters, the darkness of the depths sets in, and the submarine requires lamps to navigate. Fish in these areas are either provided with self-illuminating phosphorus or are blind, sensing their way through special organs.

 

Some deep ocean creatures have self-illuminating phosphorous and sensing organs

 

This deep-sea darkness is caused by two main factors.

 The first factor is the depth of the ocean. The light beam is composed of the seven colors of the spectrum, each with a different wavelength. Water absorbs these light components differently depending on their wavelength. Red light, for example, is absorbed at a depth of the first twenty meters below the water's surface. If a diver were injured at this depth, he would perceive his blood as black. Orange light is absorbed at a depth of 30 meters, followed by yellow at 50 meters, green at 100 meters, and so on. Blue light, however, remains visible until a depth of 200 meters, which is why deep-sea water appears blue. As we descend into the depths, the scene progressively resembles the layers of darkness characteristic of the ocean.

 

The second factor is the superimposition of dark layers on top of each other, beginning in the depths, where the internal waves exist, followed by the surface waves, then the fog that occasionally covers the ocean's surface and the clouds in the sky above. These are all layers that block the sun's rays from reaching the ocean floor, resulting in total blindness at those depths.

 

It is worth noting that this detailed description of the deep oceans was only made possible in the twenty-first century due to the development of appropriate techniques, while the holy Quran describe the deep oceans water waves eloquently in the 6^th century.

 The Quran describes the deep seas and their darkness: "Or like the darkness in a deep sea. It is covered by waves, above which are waves, above which are clouds. Darkness es, one above another. If a man stretches out his hand, he cannot see it..." (Quran 24:40) This verse beautifully captures the hidden depths of the oceans, where light fades beyond 200 meters and disappears entirely below 1000 meters. Human beings cannot survive unaided in this darkness, and diving deeper requires specialized equipment. 

 

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[1] . Hans Egede, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[2] . Willard Bascom, Waves and Beaches: The Dynamics of the Ocean Surface, December, 18, 1979.

[3] . Frederic Dumas, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.