THE oceans of the world are covered in mysterious "stripes", scientists have discovered.
Oceanographers have uncovered a regular pattern of currents imprinted on every sea on the planet. It is the first time the strange phenomenon has been spotted after researchers collected data from a global network of 3,000 free-floating buoys that me
asure the temperature and salinity of the oceans and are tracked by satellites.
The main influences on the paths of the buoys are known global currents fuelled by wind and differences in the temperature and saltiness of seawater.
But when the team at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego analysed the data over a decade, it emerged something else had been subtly changing their path.
They could not explain the narrow lines of current called "striations" running eastwards or westwards.
The scientists found the 93 mile-wide bands covered almost every ocean basin. They recorded the striations flowing in opposite directions at about 0.022 mph, says the study published in Geophysical Research Letters. This is slower than most known currents – which is possibly why they have remained hidden until now.
The researchers also found the striations extend below the surface to a few hundred metres and the eastward bands are slightly hotter than westward ones. This could turn out to play a role in the circulation of nutrients.
