- The rise and fall of the tides. Tides create a current in the oceans, which are strongest near the shore, and in bays and estuaries along the coast. …
- Wind. Winds drive currents that are at or near the ocean's surface. …
- Thermohaline circulation.
What are the 5 causes of ocean currents?
They include
the wind, temperature, breaking waves and at tides, and sometimes underground forces like earthquakes
. Ocean currents are the movements of ocean water due to gravity, the rotating earth (Coriolis effect), water density, the sun, and wind.
What causes currents in the ocean?
What makes ocean currents flow?
Tides
contribute to coastal currents that travel short distances. Major surface ocean currents in the open ocean, however, are set in motion by the wind, which drags on the surface of the water as it blows. The water starts flowing in the same direction as the wind.
What are the 3 factors that influence surface currents?
Surface currents are controlled by three factors:
global winds, the Coriolis effect, and continental deflections
. surface create surface currents in the ocean. Different winds cause currents to flow in different directions. objects from a straight path due to the Earth's rotation.
What are 4 factors that cause ocean currents?
Ocean currents can be caused by
wind, density differences in water masses caused by temperature and salinity variations, gravity, and events such as earthquakes or storms
. Currents are cohesive streams of seawater that circulate through the ocean.
What 2 things affect deep currents?
Deep ocean currents are density-driven and differ from surface currents in scale, speed, and energy. Water density is affected by
the temperature, salinity (saltiness), and depth of the water
. The colder and saltier the ocean water, the denser it is.
What are the two main factors that affect deep ocean currents?
Deep currents are driven by
temperature and water density/salinity
. Of course, deep currents impact surface currents, which carry warm water to the poles. Surface currents are also driven by global wind systems fueled by energy from the sun. Factors like wind direction and the Coriolis effect play a role.
What is the most powerful ocean current?
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current
is the planet's most powerful and arguably most important current. It is the only current to flow clear around the globe without being diverted by any landmass.
Why is ocean water salty?
Salt in the sea, or ocean salinity, is
mainly caused by rain washing mineral ions from the land into water
. Carbon dioxide in the air dissolves into rainwater, making it slightly acidic. … Sodium and chloride, the main constituents of the type of salt used in cooking, make up over 90% of all the ions found in seawater.
Which is the largest ocean in the world?
The Pacific Ocean
is the largest and deepest of the world ocean basins. Covering approximately 63 million square miles and containing more than half of the free water on Earth, the Pacific is by far the largest of the world's ocean basins. All of the world's continents could fit into the Pacific basin.
What are the two main categories of ocean currents?
Currents. There are two main types of ocean currents:
currents driven mainly by wind and currents mainly driven by density differences
. Density depends on temperature and salinity of the water.
What is the motion in the ocean?
The ocean is
in constant motion driven by winds, tides and changes in temperature and salinity
. The ocean is always moving. The ocean moves water, heat, salt and nutrients around the world.
What does the ocean effect?
The ocean
influences weather and climate by storing solar radiation
, distributing heat and moisture around the globe, and driving weather systems. … Ocean water is constantly evaporating, increasing the temperature and humidity of the surrounding air to form rain and storms that are then carried by trade winds.
What are the major surface currents?
There are five major ocean-wide gyres—
the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, and Indian Ocean gyres
. Each is flanked by a strong and narrow “western boundary current,” and a weak and broad “eastern boundary current” (Ross, 1995).
How do currents affect weather?
Ocean currents act much like a conveyer belt, transporting warm water and precipitation from the equator toward the poles and cold water from the poles back to the tropics. Thus, currents
regulate global climate
, helping to counteract the uneven distribution of solar radiation reaching Earth's surface.
What has the greatest effect on surface currents?
the
Moon's gravity
, because the tides control the surface currents. the seafloor features, because the surrounding seafloor determines the surface currents. the differences in salinity, because water moving from larger to smaller levels of salinity causes surface currents.
