List of Ocean Currents of the World

Named after the naturalist Alexander Von Humboldt, the current is driven by strong winds which displace the warm and nutrient poor surface water, allowing the cold Antarctic waters to rise to the surface creating a phenomenon known as an upwelling.

Chile

The water along the coast of California is cold for a couple of reasons. First, the California Current brings cold water from Alaska southward along the coast. And second, cold water from the deep ocean comes up to the surface through a process called upwelling. The water from the deep ocean is full of nutrients.

Thermohaline circulation, also known as the ocean’s conveyor belt, refers to the deep ocean density-driven ocean basin currents. These currents, which flow under the surface of the ocean and are thus hidden from immediate detection, are called submarine rivers.

Ocean currents, abiotic features of the environment, are continuous and directed movements of ocean water. These currents are on the ocean’s surface and in its depths, flowing both locally and globally. Winds, water density, and tides all drive ocean currents.

The strongest and most renown surface ocean currents are the Gulf Stream, that travels from the Caribbean Sea, along the East coast of North America and across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe, and the Kuroshio Current in the North Pacific Ocean off the East coast of Asia.

Ocean currents regulate climate and prevent it from becoming overly extreme. People have used ocean currents to explore the Earth. Ocean currents affect the shipping industry, commercial and recreational fishing, and recreational navigation for boats.

Deep ocean currents move quickly. Deep ocean currents are caused by winds. Deep ocean currents move cold water toward the equator. Deep ocean currents are affected by temperature but not by salinity.

In contrast to wind-driven surface currents, deep-ocean currents are caused by differences in water density. The process that creates deep currents is called thermohaline circulation—“thermo” referring to temperature and “haline” to saltiness.

Which action causes breakers? Waves hit the shore at an angle and transport sand.

Deep water currents move slowly and predictably across the globe in a cyclical system often called the “Global Conveyor Belt.” The water takes some detours, but in general, the currents follow a consistent pattern.

Antarctic Circumpolar Current

The Gulf Stream

The ocean currents carry warmth from the tropics up to these places, which would no longer happen. If the currents were to stop completely, the average temperature of Europe would cool 5 to 10 degrees Celsius. There would also be impacts on fisheries and hurricanes in the region.

The AMOC is driven by two vital components of ocean water: temperature and salt. In the North Atlantic, warm, salty water flows northward off the U.S. coastline, carrying heat from the tropics. But the circulation can be weakened by making northern water more fresh and less salty, and therefore less dense.

If ocean currents were to stop, climate could change quite significantly, particularly in Europe and countries in the North Atlantic. In these countries, temperatures would drop, affecting humans as well as plants and animals. In turn, economies could also be affected, particularly those that involve agriculture.

An AMOC shutdown may be able to trigger the type of abrupt massive temperature shifts which occurred during the last glacial period: a series of Dansgaard-Oeschger events – rapid climate fluctuations – may be attributed to freshwater forcing at high latitude interrupting the THC.

For example, one of the major potential tipping points we’re aware of is the shutdown of the North Atlantic’s current system, which brings warm water north, moderating the climate of Europe. The loss of this warm water would obviously result in a cool down in Northern Europe.

The thermal wind relationship is used to quantify changes in the zonal density gradients that control the strength of the flow. At 40°N, where the overturning cell is at its strongest, weakening of the AMOC is largely driven by warming between 1000- and 2000-m depth along the western margin.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a large system of ocean currents that carry warm water from the tropics northwards into the North Atlantic.