Ice swirls on the ocean surface!

An unusual phenomenon caught the attention of A astronautastronaut Subordinate International Space StationInternational Space Stationin addition to the satellite NASANASA, on February 3. Subordinate SwirlsSwirls The eggs were lined up one by one for several hundred kilometers along the Labrador coast of eastern Canada.

At first glance, one might think it is a cloud, e.g Von Kármán spiral. But the phenomenon actually occurs on the surface of the water, not in the sky. These are the remains of sea ice carried by ocean currents. Just as inAtmosphereAtmosphereVortices can form at the boundaries between hot and cold currents. When these whirlpoolwhirlpool Holding enough warm water, the ice breaks up easily and follows the path of the eddies. But if the current is too warm, the ice melts and these eddies are invisible from space. It is therefore very rare to observe multiple ice eddies over large distances, as was the case in the Labrador Sea.