Ocean Surface Currents | Ocean Currents Part 2
The wind is the main driving force behind the surface ocean currents. Over a large distance the surface ocean currents are also acted upon the Coriolis Effect and results in the Ekman Spiral. This current is a few metres deep and its overall flow is ninety degrees to the right of the wind in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. The major wind patterns create ocean currents that push the water towards the centre of the major ocean basins resulting in gyres, which extend to depths of around a 1000m. Due to western intensification these gyres have strong, narrow currents that carry warm waters towards the poles and effect climate. These currents include the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, the Brazil current in the South Atlantic, the Kuroshio Current in the North Pacific, the East Australian current in the South Pacific and the Agulhas in the Indian Ocean. Other surface ocean currents include the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the equatorial counter currents.
This video was the second video in our series on ocean currents, in the next video we examine how currents in the deep ocean work.
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The Abyss is an educational video series that explores all aspects of the ocean from weird animal facts to basic oceanographic principles. Join us as we dive in
For more information check out the sources used to make this video:
Townsend, D.W. 2012. Oceanography and Marine Biology: An introduction to Marine Science. Sinauer Associates, Inc. Sunderland, Massachusets, USA. pp 179-185