Linear sediment drifts suggest a widespread current crossing the equatorial Pacific

What is it about?

The deep ocean in many places comprises fine particles created from the skeletons of plankton in the upper ocean. Where a steady current works on them, the sediments can become shaped into ridges and troughs oriented in the direction of the current. We show here that a giant area of the central Pacific is floored by such bedforms. Data from current meters reveals that the water movement occurs with a period of greater than 6 months.

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Why is it important?

Linear bedforms suggest the presence of a widespread current crossing the Pacific equator, which limited current meter data suggest is caused by >6 months period oscillations in the lower ocean. Apparently, the origins of this oscillation have not been addressed in the physical oceanographic literature. The oscillation may also have implications for some paleoceanographic studies based on the fine fraction of the sediment, which is easily moved by the current.