OCEAN CURRENTS

Currents
Surfacecurrentsintheoceansaredrivenbywinds.Themajor
surfacecirculationpatternsatseaaretheresultofthe
prevailingwindsintheatmosphere.
Prevailingwindsintheatmospheredrivesurfacecurrentsinthe
oceansinpredictablepatterns.
Becausethedensityofthewaterisabout1000timesgreater
thanthedensityoftheair,themotioninthewaterwillcontinue
evenwhenthereisnowindbecauseofthewatersinertia.
Surfacecirculationisaresponsetothelongtermaverage
atmosphericcirculation.

Gyres
Largecircularsurfacecurrentscalledgyres
dominatethewinddrivensurfacecirculation
ineachhemisphere.
ThemajorgyresintheNorthernHemisphere
rotateclockwise,whileintheSouthern
Hemispheretheyrotatecounterclockwise.

Wind-driven
transport and
resulting surface
currents in an
ocean bounded by
land to the east
and west
Currents form
large oceanic
gyres that rotate
clockwise in the
north and
counterclockwise
in the south
6

Ocean Currents
IntheNorthPacificthesurfacecirculationis
dominatedbyaclockwiserotatinggyre
formedby:

a.
b.
c.
d.

theNorthEquatorialCurrent,
theKuroshioCurrent,
theNorthPacificCurrent,and
theCaliforniaCurrent.

Thisgyreisdrivenbythenortheasttrade
windsandthewesterlies.
7

Ocean Currents- Pacific

Furthernorth,intheNorthPacific,thereisa
smallercounterclockwiserotatinggyreformed
by:
a.
b.
c.

theNorthPacificCurrent,
theAlaskaCurrent,and
theOyashioCurrent.

Thereisverylittleexchangeofwaterbetween
theArcticOceanandtheNorthPacific
throughtheBeringStrait.
9

10

Ocean Currents- Pacific

IntheSouthPacific,thesurfacecirculationis
dominatedbyacounterclockwiserotatinggyre
formedby:

a.
b.
c.
d.

theSouthEquatorialCurrent,
theEastAustraliaCurrent,
thenorthernedgeoftheWestWindDrift,and
thePeruCurrent.

Thisgyreisderivedbythesoutheasttradewindsand
thewesterlies.
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12

Ocean Currents- Atlantic

IntheNorthAtlantic,thereisasimilar
clockwiserotatinggyreformedby:

a.
b.
c.
d.

theNorthEquatorialCurrent,
theGulfStream,
theNorthAtlanticCurrent,and
theCanaryCurrent.

13

14

Ocean Currents- Atlantic

IntheSouthAtlantic,thecounterclockwise
rotatinggyreisformedby:
a.
b.
c.
d.

theSouthEquatorialCurrent,
theBrazilCurrent,
thenorthernedgeoftheWestWind
Drift,and
theBenguelaCurrent.

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16

Ocean Currents- Indian

BecausetheIndianOceanisprimarilyaSouthern
Hemisphereocean,itssurfacecirculationisdominated
byacounterclockwiserotatinggyreformedby:

a.
b.
c.
d.

theSouthEquatorialCurrent,
theAgulhasCurrent,
thenorthernedgeoftheWestWind Drift,and
theWestAustraliaCurrent.

ThewatersnorthoftheequatorintheIndianOcean
movetotheeastinthesummerandtothewestinthe
winterwiththeseasonalchangesinmonsoonwinds.

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18

Ocean Currents- Polar

Withoutanycontinentstoblockitsflow,theWestWind
Driftistheonlycontinuouscurrentflowingaroundthe
globe.ItmovesfromwesttoeastaroundAntarctica.
FlowintheArcticOceanisdominatedbyalarge
clockwisegyre.ThisgyreisnotcenteredontheNorth
Pole.ItisdisplacedtowardtheCanadianBasin
WaterflowsoutoftheArcticOceanoneithersideof
GreenlandintotheNorthAtlantic.
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20

21

Eddies
Currents do not generally flow in smooth
curves or straight lines. Current paths will
meander and sometimes close on
themselves to form eddies.

22

Figure 8.7

23

Satellite image
of warm and
cold eddies
spinning of
the Gulf
Stream

24

Satellite view
of solar
reflection of off
eddies in the
Mediterranean

25

Geostrophic Flow

26

Sargasso Sea

27

Patterns of global circulation

Circulation patterns have changed with time in
response to changing configurations of
continents, climate patterns, and atmospheric
circulation.
Studies of fossil organisms in marine sediments
show that the temperature of the North Atlantic
Ocean has varied during glacial and interglacial
periods.
These changes have been related to
Milankovitch cycles.
28

Milankovitch cycles
The position and orientation of Earth with
respect to the sun change in a predictable
fashion. This changes the distribution and
intensity of solar radiation reaching the
surface of Earth that influences climate
and ocean circulation
These cyclical changes are known as
Milankovitch cycles, named after a
Serbian mathematician who studied them
29

Milankovitch cycles
The Milankovitch cycles are driven by variations
that include:
a.
b.
c.

changes in the shape of Earths orbit from

elliptical to more circular with a period of
about 100,000 years,
changes in the tilt of Earths axis of rotation
from 22 to 24.5 with a period of 41,000
years
the precession, or circular revolution, of
Earths axis of rotation with a period of about
23,000 years.

There seems to be a time lag between the

occurrence of minimum levels of solar radiation
and minimum water temperatures.

30

Milankovitch Cycle

31

Milankovitch Cycle

32

Milankovitch Cycle

33

Recent Climate Change

The recent history of climate changes and water
temperature fluctuations includes:
a. minimum incoming solar radiation values about
23,000 years ago,
b. maximum land ice and minimum water
temperatures about 17,000 years ago,
c. a return to high solar radiation values about
12,000 years ago with a rapid warming of the water,
d. the appearance of a mini-ice age, called the
Younger Dryas event, about 11,000 years ago in the
Northern Hemisphere that lasted about 700 years.

34

Measuring Currents
Currents can be measured using either
stationary instruments or instruments designed
to float and move along with the current.
Moving water at any depth can be monitored
using specially designed buoys or floats whose
density can be changed to keep the instrument
at a specific depth. Data from the instrument can
then be relayed to a ship.
Buoys can also be instrumented to measure
other physical properties of the water such as
temperature.
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36

37

38

El Nio
The prevailing southeast trade winds that create the nearly
permanent zone of divergence and upwelling along the west
coast of South America occasionally fail and the upwelling
ceases.
This situation is called the El Nio and is characterized by
abnormally high sea surface temperatures in the eastern
Pacific.
The El Nio is often followed by abnormally cold periods
called La Nia that can also strongly affect atmospheric
circulation.

39

El Nio
Along the western coast of South America off Ecuador
and Peru, the southeast trade winds drive water away
from the land, creating a nearly constant region of
divergence with upwelling water rich in nutrients.
These cold waters are extremely productive with dense
populations of plankton that support a large and
valuable food chain.
Periodically, roughly every three to eight years, the trade
winds will break down and the divergence will stop.

40

a)Normal conditions
January 1997
b) El Nio conditions
November 1997
c) End of El Nio
and the beginning of
a normal cycle in
March 1998

41

Changes in sea surface temperatures from normal off

the coast of Peru Higher values indicate an El Nio

42

El Nios effects: (1) Huge areas of warm water drift east. (2)
Storms then follow, drenching California and more of South
Americas west coast. (3) The jet stream sometimes splits in two,
leaving the Pacific Northwest dry, with mild temperatures, and the
Northeast warm.

43

Could El Nio be causing more frequent hurricanes and

other severe storms? Yes, say some researchers

Some scientists even link the recent onslaught of El Nios to the specter of global warming. In
the last 20 years, the world has experienced five El Nioswell above the historical norm of
one every four to seven years. Might the greenhouse effect be responsible?
El Nio acts as a kind of distributor of global warming. When carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
absorbs radiation from space, Grahams global warming theory goes, it transfers this extra
energy to the oceans in the form of heat. As the equatorial Pacific warms, the extra energy
accelerates the hydrologic cycle of convection and precipitationand speeds up the El Nio
rhythm by throwing more heat and moisture into the atmosphere. El Nio, in turn, spreads that
heat virtually across the globe, upsetting weather patterns in ways ranging from mildly amusing
(January sellouts of Bermuda shorts in the Northeast) to devastating (African droughts and
44
famine).

For nine straight days in 1995, row after row of

sodden, gray clouds marched from the Pacific
Ocean into normally sunny California. They
deluged Los Angeles, San Francisco, and every
town in between with as much as 16 inches of
rainmore than the average annual total for
some locations. The devastation was widespread:
11 dead, hundreds of homes destroyed, and $1.3
billion in damages.
The 1982-83 El Nio, the so-called El Nio of
the Century, wreaked an estimated $8.1 billion of
damage and destruction across five continents. It
wiped out delicate coral reefs and drove an
estimated 17 million island nesting birds from
their homes in the Pacific; caused drought that
devastated crops in India and led to paralyzing
dust storms and brushfires in Australia; spawned
a rash of cyclones that left 25,000 Tahitians
homeless; and dumped an incredible 100 inches
of rain in six months in some areas of Ecuador,
creating inland lakes where previously there had
been desert.

45

La Nia
Colder years often follow these periods of
abnormally warm temperatures.
These cold periods have been called La Nia, or
the girl.
The La Nia will cause a strengthening of the
trade winds with a decrease in precipitation on
the eastern side of the basin and a
corresponding increase on the western side.

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