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Oct 19, 2023 · noun. ocean conveyor belt system in which water moves between the cold depths and warm surface in oceans throughout the world. tide. noun. rise and fall of the ocean's waters, caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun. Ocean currents are like vast rivers, flowing along predictable paths.
The answer is ocean currents. Ocean currents are continuous movements of water in the ocean that follow set paths, kind of like rivers in the ocean. They can be at the water's surface or go to the deep sea; some are very large, like Japan's Kuroshio Current, which is equal in volume to 6,000 large rivers, while others are small and unnamed.
Currents are coherent streams of water moving through the ocean and include both long, permanent features such as the Gulf Stream, as well as smaller, episodic flows in both coastal waters and the open ocean. They are formed primarily by wind blowing across the surface of the ocean and by differences in the temperature, density and pressure of ...
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What are the characteristic surface currents of the ocean?
What are ocean currents?
What are the two types of ocean currents?
How are ocean surface currents produced?
One is wind-driven circulation and the other is thermohaline circulation. The image below shows the characteristic surface currents of the ocean. Image Credit: Major Ocean Currents (source: US Navy Oceanographic Office) Surface Currents. At the ocean surface, currents are primarily driven by winds.
Currents driven by thermohaline circulation occur at both deep and shallow ocean levels and move much slower than tidal or surface currents. The Currents Tutorial is an overview of the types of currents, what causes them, how they are measured, and how they affect people's lives.
Ocean surface currents are produced by global winds, the Coriolis effect and the shape of each ocean basin. The Pacific and Atlantic Oceans have a circular pattern of surface currents called gyres that circle clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern.
Ocean currents can be caused by wind, density differences in water masses caused by temperature and salinity variations, gravity, and events such as earthquakes or storms. Currents are cohesive streams of seawater that circulate through the ocean.
