Thaindian News

August 7, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): The researchers working in the area of the Black Sea have discovered an undersea river which flows along a channel below the surface of the Black sea. The volume of water carried by the river is almost 350 times that of River Thames say the researchers.

The river which has a depth of 115 ft in some places has all the characteristics of a river including rapids and waterfalls. This makes it very similar to the rivers flowing on the surface of earth. The scientists stated that it would have been considered as the sixth largest river had it been flowing on the surface.

The discovery has special significance as it could help the scientists to find out how life survives deep down under the sea.

The scientists belonging to the University of Leeds made use of a robotic submarine to study the channel of the river on the sea bed.

Dr. Dan Parsons from the Earth And Environment school said that the water of the river is much denser than the sea water surrounding it, being high both in terms of salinity as well as sediment.

However there is a key difference between the surface rivers and the undersea ones. Parsons explained that the water of the undersea rivers tend to spiral in the opposite direction after it goes around a bend.

The source of this yet to be named river seems to be the Bosphorus Strait of the Mediterranean which flows into the Black Sea. The latter is less saline. The densely saline water, therefore flows under the sea along a channel which is 115 feet deep and 0.6 miles wide. It is the solitary undersea river that is active.

Dr Parsons say that the data obtained by studying the undersea river will prove to be invaluable for oil companies who want to drill in such areas.

Measuring the water flow through a natural channel and linking it to the shape and morphology of the channel can be done for the very first time, said Dr Dan Parsons.