Geography - Ocean Currents!

vicky271

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Hey guys! Is anyone a expert on ocean currents? I've done some basic research. I'm aware that oceans currents carry warmth from the equator to the poles, and that most water starts in the ocean. Water continuously evaporates, and falls on to the earth. But that's my limited knowledge. There are different currents if i recall? And more to the basics! Any resources (or information you can provide in the response)? Anything helps!
 

MaeZe

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That's a bit of a general question, could you narrow it down?

Global warming is dumping fresh water from melting ice caps into salty sea mucks with the currents. Ocean Stratification
Temperature and density of ocean water are related inversely: warm water means low density, cold water means denser seawater. The salt content of the water also affects Ocean density. Sea Surface Salinity: Sea water is about a 3.49% salt solution, the rest is freshwater. The more saline, the denser the seawater.

Continental drift caused major climate change when currents were blocked or opened up by the drifting continents.

It takes several years for a drop of water to circulate around an ocean basin.


If you could narrow it down to what you are looking for ...
 

benbenberi

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Here's Wikipedia with a handy intro to the subject of Ocean Currents, inc. some links.

And here's another on the Water Cycle.

For basic information about a big topic like this, Google is your friend. You might get more useful answers here if you can narrow your question a bit more.
 
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writbeyondmeasure

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I've done some oceanography at uni. As everyone else said, if you had a specific question we could give better answers.

Yes, there are different currents like the East Australian current from finding Nemo. The Global Conveyor Belt is basically a whole bunch of currents which are connected and flow around the Earth (google it for a diagram). It transports nutrients and heat around the Earth. If it ever stopped some parts of the world could become a lot colder than they are including the North Atlantic. For example, the norther UK is warmer than average for its latitude because currents transport warm water there from the Gulf of Mexico. Another name for the global conveyor belt is the Thermohaline circulation. Thermo=temperature, haline=salt. The currents move due to salinity and temperature differences in ocean water around the globe. Cold or saline water (near the poles) is more dense than warm and less salty water near the equator. Water has lower salinity near the equator because there is more rainfall and has higher salinity near the poles because when salt water freezes the salt is pushed out of the ice. Denser water sinks, less dense water (relative to the water around it) rise. This process causes the currents. The ocean is huge so it takes around 100,000 years to complete one circulation.