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This gyre is characterized by a clockwise rotation of surface waters, driven by the combined influence of wind, the Earth's rotation, and the shape of the seafloor. The gyre plays a crucial role in the transport of heat, nutrients, and marine life in the Southern Ocean, affecting the distribution of sea ice and influencing regional climate ...
A northern-hemisphere gyre in geostrophic balance. Paler water is less dense than dark water, but more dense than air; the outwards pressure gradient is balanced by the 90 degrees-right-of-flow coriolis force. The structure will eventually dissipate due to friction and mixing of water properties.
Both Atlantic subtropical gyres are net evaporative, as well as the Pacific subtropical gyres, although they show an east–west transition with increased evaporation near the eastern boundaries. This spatial pattern can be attributed to the fact that the overlying air becomes saturated in humidity, subsequently leading to decreasing ...
The majority of downwelling, as described above, occurs in polar regions as deep and bottom water formation or in the center of subtropical gyres. Bottom and deep water formation in the Southern Ocean (Weddell Sea) and North Atlantic Ocean (Greenland, Labrador, Norwegian, and Mediterranean Seas) is a major contributor towards the removal and ...
Open ocean wind circulation can lead to gyre-like structures of piled up sea surface water resulting in horizontal gradients of sea surface height. [1] This pile up of water causes the water to have a downward flow and suction, due to gravity and mass balance. Ekman pumping downward in the central ocean is a consequence of this convergence of ...
The oceanic regions within the South Pacific Gyre (SPG), and other subtropical gyres, are characterized by low primary productivity in the surface ocean; i.e. they are oligotrophic. The center of the SPG is the furthest oceanic province from a continent and contains the clearest ocean water on Earth [2] with ≥ 0.14 mg chlorophyll per m 3. [2]
The solution for the flow forming the bottom Ekman spiral was a result of the shear stress exerted on the flow by the bottom. Logically, wherever shear stress can be exerted on a flow, Ekman spirals will form. This is the case at the air–water interface, because of wind.
The Indian Ocean gyre. The Indian Ocean gyre, located in the Indian Ocean, is one of the five major oceanic gyres, large systems of rotating ocean currents, which together form the backbone of the global conveyor belt. The Indian Ocean gyre is composed of two major currents: the South Equatorial Current, and the West Australian Current.