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Ocean surface topography is used to map ocean currents, which move around the ocean's "hills" and "valleys" in predictable ways. A clockwise sense of rotation is found around "hills" in the northern hemisphere and "valleys" in the southern hemisphere. This is because of the Coriolis effect. Conversely, a counterclockwise sense of rotation is ...
But the surface is also on the front line of climate change and pollution. Life on the ocean's surface connects worlds. From shallow waters to the deep sea, the open ocean to rivers and lakes, numerous terrestrial and marine species depend on the surface ecosystem and the organisms found there. [28] The ocean's surface acts like a skin between ...
Ocean surfaces occupy 72% of the Earth's total surface. They can be divided into surfaces of the relatively shallow and nutrient rich coastal areas above the continental shelves (light blue), and surfaces of the more expansive and relatively deeper but nutrient poor ocean that lies beyond (deep blue). External videos.
The ocean surface has globally little, but measurable topography, depending on the ocean's volumes. The ocean surface is a crucial interface for oceanic and atmospheric processes. Allowing interchange of particles, enriching the air and water, as well as grounds by some particles becoming sediments. This interchange has fertilized life in the ...
Ocean stratification is the natural separation of an ocean's water into horizontal layers by density. This is generally stable stratification, because warm water floats on top of cold water, and heating is mostly from the sun, which reinforces that arrangement. Stratification is reduced by wind-forced mechanical mixing, but reinforced by ...
In oceanography, a gyre (/ ˈdʒaɪər /) is any large system of circulating ocean surface currents, particularly those involved with large wind movements. Gyres are caused by the Coriolis effect; planetary vorticity, horizontal friction and vertical friction determine the circulatory patterns from the wind stress curl (torque).
An oceanographic water mass is an identifiable body of water with a common formation history which has physical properties distinct from surrounding water. Properties include temperature, salinity, chemical - isotopic ratios, and other physical quantities which are conservative flow tracers. Water mass is also identified by its non-conservative ...
Phytoplankton (/ ˌfaɪtoʊˈplæŋktən /) are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words φυτόν (phyton), meaning ' plant ', and πλαγκτός (planktos), meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'. [ 1 ][ 2 ][ 3 ] Phytoplankton obtain ...