12 Facts About Ross Sea

Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth.

Circulation of the Ross Sea is dominated by a wind-driven ocean gyre and the flow is strongly influenced by three submarine ridges that run from southwest to northeast.

The southernmost part of the Ross Sea is Gould Coast, which is approximately 200 miles from the geographic South Pole.

Ross Supergroup system and Beacon Supergroup – Ross System rocks exposed in Victoria Land and in the Transantarctic Mountains on the western side of the Ross Sea are possible basement rock below the sedimentary cover of the sea floor.

Groups within the Ross Sea System include the Robertson Bay Group, Priestley Group, Skelton Group, Beardmore Group, Byrd Group, Queen Maud Group, and Koettlitz Group.

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Ross Sea circulation, dominated by polynya processes, is in general very slow-moving.

The Ross Sea is covered with ice for much of the year and ice concentrations and in the south-central region little melting occurs.

Ross Sea is one of the last stretches of seas on Earth that remains relatively unaffected by human activities.

Consequently, the Ross Sea has become a focus of numerous environmentalist groups who have campaigned to make the area a world marine reserve, citing the rare opportunity to protect the Ross Sea from a growing number of threats and destruction.

The Ross Sea is regarded by marine biologists as having a very high biological diversity and as such has a long history of human exploration and scientific research, with some datasets going back over 150 years.

Some species of birds that nest in and near the Ross Sea include the Adelie penguin, emperor penguin, Antarctic petrel, snow petrel, and south polar skua.

Marine mammals in the Ross Sea include the Antarctic minke whale, killer whale, Weddell seal, crabeater seal, and leopard seal.