The oceans are made up of warm salty water near the surface over cold, less salty water in the ocean depths. The ocean currents are driven mostly by the wind.
In some areas near the polar oceans, the colder surface water also gets saltier due to evaporation or sea ice formation. In these regions, the surface water becomes dense enough to sink to the ocean depths.
In some areas near the polar oceans, the colder surface water also gets saltier due to evaporation or sea ice formation. In these regions, the surface water becomes dense enough to sink to the ocean depths.
The oceans are made up of warm salty water near the surface over cold, less salty water in the ocean depths. The ocean currents are driven mostly by the wind.
In some areas near the polar oceans, the colder surface water also gets saltier due to evaporation or sea ice formation. In these regions, the surface water becomes dense enough to sink to the ocean depths.
This pumping of surface water into the deep ocean forces the deep water to move horizontally until it can find an area on the world where it can rise back to the surface and close the current loop. -usually occurs in the equatorial ocean, mostly in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. This very large, slow current is called the Thermohaline circulation because it is caused by temperature and salinity (haline) variations.
The above animation shows one of the major regions where this pumping occurs, the North Atlantic Ocean around Greenland, Iceland, and the North Sea. The animation also shows another feature of the global ocean circulation: the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The colour on the world's ocean's at the beginning of this animation represents surface water density, with dark regions being most dense and light regions being least dense.
The depths of the oceans are highly exaggerated to better illustrate the differences between the surface flows and deep water flows.
All credit due to NASA/Goddard Space Flight Centre Scientific Visualization Studio.
In some areas near the polar oceans, the colder surface water also gets saltier due to evaporation or sea ice formation. In these regions, the surface water becomes dense enough to sink to the ocean depths.
This pumping of surface water into the deep ocean forces the deep water to move horizontally until it can find an area on the world where it can rise back to the surface and close the current loop. -usually occurs in the equatorial ocean, mostly in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. This very large, slow current is called the Thermohaline circulation because it is caused by temperature and salinity (haline) variations.
The above animation shows one of the major regions where this pumping occurs, the North Atlantic Ocean around Greenland, Iceland, and the North Sea. The animation also shows another feature of the global ocean circulation: the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The colour on the world's ocean's at the beginning of this animation represents surface water density, with dark regions being most dense and light regions being least dense.
The depths of the oceans are highly exaggerated to better illustrate the differences between the surface flows and deep water flows.
All credit due to NASA/Goddard Space Flight Centre Scientific Visualization Studio.
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