Physical and biological zonation in the Southern Ocean

Abstract One of the most rewarding and approachable aims for research in the Antarctic circumpolar ocean is to further our understanding of ways in which circulation may influence the distributions of the marine plants and animals. The water-mass boundaries are apparantly related to the winds, though meridional gradients in density due to heat and water exchanges may be critical. A brief review of some biogeographical findings, based only on what the author has picked up from his biological colleagues, seems to suggest some promising beginnings.