Aquatic sill

The influence of an aquatic sill on fjord water circulation.

An aquatic sill (or an oceanic sill) is a sea floor barrier of relatively shallow depth (tens to hundreds of meters) that restricts water movement between benthic zones of an oceanic basin or lake bottom.[1] There are roughly 400 sills in the Earth's oceans, covering 0.01% of the seafloor.[2] A classic example is the Strait of Gibraltar Gateway between the Mediterranean sea and the Atlantic Ocean.[3]

  1. ^ Bureau., International Hydrographic Organization. Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. International Hydrographic (2008). Standardization of undersea feature names : guidelines, proposal form, terminology. International Hydrographic Bureau. OCLC 503322698.
  2. ^ Harris, P. T.; Macmillan-Lawler, M.; Rupp, J.; Baker, E. K. (2014). "Geomorphology of the oceans". Marine Geology. 352: 4–24. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2014.01.011. ISSN 0025-3227.
  3. ^ De Mol, Ben (2012). Cold-Water Coral Distribution in an Erosional Environment: The Strait of Gibraltar Gateway. Amblas, David; Alvarez, German; Busquets, Pere; Calafat, Antonio; Canals, Miquel; Duran, Ruth; Lavoie, Caroline; Acosta, Juan; Munoz, Araceli. Madrid, Spain: Elsevier Science. ISBN 978-0-12-385141-3. OCLC 769343141.