OceanCurrents and Climate.docVIP

Ocean Currents and Climate There are two type of Ocean Currents: 1. Surface Currents--Surface Circulation These waters make up about 10% of all the water in the ocean. These waters are the upper 400 meters of the ocean. 2. Deep Water Currents--Thermohaline Circulation These waters make up the other 90% of the ocean These waters move around the ocean basins by density driven forces and gravity. The density difference is a function of different temperatures and salinity These deep waters sink into the deep ocean basins at high latitudes where the temperatures are cold enough to cause the density to increase. Ocean Currents are influenced by two types of forces 1. Primary Forces--start the water moving The primary forces are: 1. Solar Heating 2. Winds 3. Gravity 4. Coriolis 2. Secondary Forces--influence where the currents flow 1. Surface Circulation Solar heating cause water to expand. Near the equator the water is about 8 centimeters high than in middle latitudes. This cause a very slight slope and water wants to flow down the slope. Winds blowing on the surface of the ocean push the water. Friction is the coupling between the wind and the waters surface. A wind blowing for 10 hours across the ocean will cause the surface waters to flow at about 2% of the wind speed. Water will pile up in the direction the wind is blowing. Gravity will tend to pull the water down the hill or pile of water against the pressure gradient. But the Coriolis Force intervenes and cause the water to move to the right (in the northern hemisphere) around the mound of water. These large mounds of water and the flow around them are called Gyres. The produce large circular currents in all the ocean basins. Gyres North Atlantic Gyre Note how the North Atlantic Gyre is separated into four distinct Currents, The North Equatorial Current, the Gulf Stream, the North Atlantic Current, and the Canary Current. But why doesnt the water spin towards the center of the ocean? Why does it flow