September 11, 2013 — For the first time ever, oceanographers have recorded an enormous wave breaking three miles below the ocean’s surface in the South Pacific’s Samoan Passage. Why is this important? These 800-foot tall “skyscraper waves” transport heat, energy, carbon and nutrients around the globe. Where and how they break is important for not only the planet’s climate, but also the accuracy of global climate models. In a study published online this month in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, Matthew Alford, an oceanographer at the University of Washington, notes, “Climate models are really sensitive not only to how much turbulence there is in the deep ocean, but to where it is. The primary importance of understanding deep-ocean turbulence is to get the climate models right on long timescales.” Water is surging northward from Antarctica through the Samoan Passage, Alford says, at a rate of 6 million cubic meters of water per second — the equivalent of about 35 Amazon Rivers. With an improved understanding of circulation in the world’s oceans, scientists will be able to fine tune future climate change projections. Photo by MarkTipple (Flickr | Creative Commons)