What happens when aliens vaporize the Panama Canal?

On January 1, 2018 angry aliens decide to show humanity just who's boss. So they vaporize an area of land 1 mile deep and 10 wide, centered around the Panama Canal.

Some preliminary facts that we know:

• The Pacific side is ~20 feet higher than the Atlantic, due to the pressure of a current. I anticipate a huge flow of water from the Pacific side, which might initially scour the new passage larger, and would likely persist as the equatorial counter current pushes through.

• The former isthmus has separated the two oceans for millions of years; there has been some recent leakage due to the Canal, but in "retail" amounts not wholesale.

What are the effects on our ocean ecosystems?

posted about 7 years ago

akaioi‭

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