Scientists have discovered what influences Earth’s powerful ocean gyres. It’s the gravity of a neighboring planet

Australian scientists looked at sediments dug from the deep ocean floor. In this way, they wanted to better understand the power of deep ocean currents. They were surprised to find that the currents weakened and strengthened in cycles lasting 2.4 million years. Scientists did not expect such a discovery at all and found only one explanation.

These cycles are connected to the interaction cycles of Mars and Earth orbiting the Sun

– Adriana Dutkiewicz, co-author of the study and sedimentologist from the University of Sydney. This is the first study to show such a correlation.

Ocean currents depend on Mars. But humans still have a greater impact on the climate

Mars and Earth influence each other through a phenomenon called orbital resonance. Therefore, the planets are affected not only by the gravity of the Sun, but also of other planets. This affects the shape of their orbits, and therefore also their distance from the central star. On Earth, we feel this in the form of periods of increased solar energy that reaches here, which causes the climate to warm. It turns out that these warm cycles also affect the strength of sea currents.

However, Dietmar Müller, professor of geophysics at the University of Sydney and co-author of the study, emphasizes that these natural cycles are not related to the rapid warming of the Earth’s climate. Because although the Earth has experienced warmer periods in its history, the changes have never been as rapid as today, which is the result of human activity. If nothing changes, human impact “will overshadow all other climate processes for a very long time,” Muller says.

Mars may reduce the disastrous effects of an AMOC collapse

The study authors suggest that the vortices they described could mitigate the effects of the collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Exchange Circulation (AMOC). The AMOC collapse has been worrying scientists for some time. This is a system of sea currents that carry warm water from the equatorial Atlantic to the north – and vice versa, including the Gulf Stream. They distribute heat throughout much of the world, as well as food found in water for animals living in the world.

These sea currents are driven by, among other things, differences in temperature, salinity and density of water. The global warming we have caused causes more fresh water to flow into the Atlantic, including: from the melting Greenland ice sheet or rainwater. This weakens AMOC.

Our study says nothing about what will or will not happen with AMOC. However, it indicates that even if AMOC disappears completely, there will still be other processes mixing water in the oceans, although their effects may be very different

– said Dietmar Müller