Ad
related to: what area of the ocean water is controlled by deep currentsgenerationgenius.com has been visited by 10K+ users in the past month
- Grades K-2 Science Videos
Get instant access to hours of fun
standards-based K-2 videos & more.
- K-8 Science Lessons
Used in over 30,000 schools.
Loved by teachers and students.
- Grades 6-8 Science Videos
Get instant access to hours of fun
standards-based 6-8 videos & more.
- Teachers Try it Free
Get 30 days access for free.
No credit card or commitment needed
- Grades K-2 Science Videos
Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Ocean currents are important in the study of marine debris. [15] [16] Plankton are dispersed by ocean currents. Upwellings and cold ocean water currents flowing from polar and sub-polar regions bring in nutrients that support plankton growth, which are crucial prey items for several key species in marine ecosystems. [17]
As the deep waters sink into the ocean basins, they displace the older deep-water masses, which gradually become less dense due to continued ocean mixing. Thus, some water is rising, in what is known as upwelling. Its speeds are very slow even compared to the movement of the bottom water masses.
The world's largest ocean gyres. Western boundary currents may themselves be divided into sub-tropical or low-latitude western boundary currents. Sub-tropical western boundary currents are warm, deep, narrow, and fast-flowing currents that form on the west side of ocean basins due to western intensification. They carry warm water from the ...
Winds drive ocean currents in the upper 100 meters of the ocean's surface. However, ocean currents also flow thousands of meters below the surface. These deep-ocean currents are driven by differences in the water's density, which is controlled by temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline). This process is known as thermohaline circulation.
Those currents comprise half of the global thermohaline circulation that includes the flow of major ocean currents, the other half being the Southern Ocean overturning circulation. [2] The AMOC is composed of a northward flow of warm, more saline water in the Atlantic's upper layers and a southward, return flow of cold, salty, deep water.
Flotsam can be blown by the wind, or follow the flow of ocean currents, often ending up in the middle of oceanic gyres where currents are weakest. Within garbage patches, the waste is not compact, and although most of it is near the surface of the ocean, it can be found up to more than 30 metres (100 ft) deep in the water. [69]
In all parts of the ocean, deep ocean temperatures range between −2 °C (28 °F) and 5 °C (41 °F). [14] Constant circulation of water in the ocean creates ocean currents. Those currents are caused by forces operating on the water, such as temperature and salinity differences, atmospheric circulation (wind), and the Coriolis effect. [15]
The winds drive surface water to the right of the wind flow, that is offshore, which draws water up from below to replace it. The upwelling further cools the already cool California Current. This is the mechanism that produces California's characteristic coastal fog and cool ocean waters. As a result, ocean surf temperatures are much colder ...
Ad
related to: what area of the ocean water is controlled by deep currentsgenerationgenius.com has been visited by 10K+ users in the past month