Why in the news?

  • A groundbreaking expedition to Argentina’s Mar del Plata Canyon uncovered over 40 potential new deep-sea species, including glass squids and pink lobsters.

Argentina

  • Location: Argentina is a South American country.
  • Capital: Buenos Aires
  • Fact: The second-largest country in South America after Brazil.
  • Bordering Countries: Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay.
  • Bordering Waterbodies: South Atlantic Ocean, Drake Passage.
  • Disputed Territory: Falkland Islands with Britain
  • Climate: Temperate Climate
  • Local Wind: Pampero Winds
  • Desert: Patagonia
  • Grasslands: Pampas
  • Economic Significance: Part of Lithium Triangle.

Mar del Plata Canyon

  • Location:
    • Situated along the continental margin off the coast of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.
    • Lies about 250–300 km offshore from the city of Mar del Plata in the South-Western Atlantic Ocean.
    • It is one of the largest submarine canyons on the Argentine continental margin system.
  • Geological & Oceanographic Features:
    • Type: Submarine canyon — a deep, steep-sided valley incised into the continental slope and rise.
    • Depth: Reaches approximately 3,000–3,500 metres below sea level, extending from the continental shelf to the deep Atlantic basin.
    • Seafloor Composition: Dominated by fine sand mixed with terrigenous material (land-derived sediments) and planktonic foraminifera substrate (microfossil deposits).
    • Formation: Shaped by turbidity currents, sediment erosion, and underwater landslides transporting material downslope.
  • Hydrographic Characteristics:
    • The region is highly productive, influenced by the Argentine Shelf-break Front, a permanent oceanographic front marking a sharp boundary between contrasting water masses:
      • Sub-Antarctic shelf waters (cold, nutrient-rich), and
      • Cooler, more saline waters of the Falkland-Malvinas Current.
    • This interaction creates a thermohaline front (temperature-salinity gradient), leading to nutrient upwelling, high plankton productivity, and rich marine biodiversity.