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Ocean current. Distinctive white lines trace the flow of surface currents around the world. An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of seawater generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. [1]
North Atlantic Current. The North Atlantic Current is the first leg in the North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre. The North Atlantic Current ( NAC ), also known as North Atlantic Drift and North Atlantic Sea Movement, is a powerful warm western boundary current within the Atlantic Ocean that extends the Gulf Stream northeastward. [1]
The applied winds (left) are sinusoidal, which is an approximation of the typical winds driving a subtropical gyre. Flow is along streamlines (black dotted lines) and the stream function is negative throughout the gyre, indicating the gyre is rotating clockwise. The distance between streamlines is inversely proportional to the flow speed ...
The North Pacific Current (sometimes referred to as the North Pacific Drift) is an ocean current that flows west-to-east between 30 and 50 degrees north in the Pacific Ocean. The current forms the southern part of the North Pacific Subpolar Gyre and the northern part of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. The North Pacific Current is formed by ...
The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolina) and moves toward Northwest Europe as the North Atlantic Current. The process of western intensification ...
Antarctic Circumpolar Current ( ACC) is an ocean current that flows clockwise (as seen from the South Pole) from west to east around Antarctica. An alternative name for the ACC is the West Wind Drift. The ACC is the dominant circulation feature of the Southern Ocean and has a mean transport estimated at 100–150 Sverdrups (Sv, million m 3 /s ...
North Equatorial Current. The North Equatorial Current (NEC) is a westward wind-driven current mostly located near the equator, but the location varies from different oceans. The NEC in the Pacific and the Atlantic is about 5°-20°N, while the NEC in the Indian Ocean is very close to the equator. It ranges from the sea surface down to 400 m in ...
The Southern Pacific Gyre is part of the Earth's system of rotating ocean currents, bounded by the Equator to the north, Australia to the west, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to the south, and South America to the east. [1] The center of the South Pacific Gyre is the oceanic pole of inaccessibility, the site on Earth farthest from any ...