Ocean Currents

A continuous movement of a stream of either hot or cold water in an ocean is known as an ocean current. Some of the factors that affect an ocean current are the rotation of the planet, temperature, the wind and the gravitation pull of the moon. The direction and the strength of an ocean current are influenced by the shoreline and the depth contours of the ocean.

Major Ocean Currents

Listed below are some of the major ocean currents that affect the oceans of the world.

Arctic Ocean: The important currents of the Arctic Ocean are the East Greenland Current, Norwegian Current, Beaufort Gyre and the Transpolar Drift.

Atlantic Ocean: There are over twenty important ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean. A few of them are Antilles Current, Brazil Current, Caribbean Current, Falkland Current, Gulf Stream Current, Labrador Current, North Atlantic Current, North Brazil Current and West Greenland Current.

Pacific Ocean: Pacific Ocean, one of the largest oceans of the world has over fifteen different types of ocean currents. Some of them include the Alaska Current, California Current, East Australian Current, Kamchatka Current, North Equatorial Current, Kuroshio Current, South Equatorial Current and West Wind Drift.

Indian Ocean: Indian Ocean is the third largest ocean of the world. The ocean currents in this ocean include Madagascar Current, Equatorial Counter Current, West and South Australian Current and the West Wind Drift.

Southern Ocean: Southern Ocean is also known as the Antarctic Ocean was recently recognized by the International Hydrographic Organization. Some of the Ocean currents of this ocean include Tasman Outflow, Weddell Gyre and Antarctic Current.

Types of Ocean Currents

There are two types of Ocean currents. They include the following:

Surface Circulation Current: Large circular patterns known as "Gyres" are formed at the depth of 400 m in a surface circulation ocean current. In Northern Hemisphere, gyres flow clockwise and in the Southern Hemisphere, in the anti-clockwise direction. The flow of the surface ocean currents is in a regular pattern. Some of the currents are deep and narrow, while there are others that are shallow and wide. An ocean current of surface type can move either quickly or slowly. Surface circulation currents are large and carry heat from one place to another. The surface currents are important to maintain a balance in the marine ecosystem. The reason is they help in the transport of marine animals from the warmer regions to colder regions. This current is also considered important by the sailors to plan their sea routes.

Thermohaline Circulation Current: Thermohaline Circulation Current, also known as Global Ocean Conveyor, is a deep ocean current. Cold temperatures and high salinity of the seawater cause deep-water circulation current or the Thermohaline circulation current. The seawater is very dense when it is very saltier and cold. This causes the water to sink to the bottom causing Thermohaline Circulation current. The underground currents are known as submarine rivers.

To sum up, ocean currents are constantly on the move and are affected by the prevailing temperature, the direction of wind, salinity of the water, rotation of the earth and the topography of the ocean bed. The direction of an ocean current is constant and they move only in one direction unlike the tidal currents close to the shores.

The ocean currents carry immense amount of energy and this is directly related to the density of water. Many Asian, European and North American countries are currently conducting studies and research to make use of the energy from ocean currents.