News tagged with ocean circulation
Scientists aboard Iberian coast ocean drilling expedition report early findings
(PhysOrg.com) -- Mediterranean bottom currents and the sediment deposits they leave behind offer new insights into global climate change, the opening and closing of ocean circulation gateways and locations ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jan 24, 2012 |
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Huge pool of Arctic fresh water could cool Europe
British scientists have discovered an enormous dome of fresh water in the western Arctic Ocean. They think it may result from strong Arctic winds accelerating a great clockwise ocean circulation called the ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jan 23, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
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Pinot noir grapes reveal 700-year climate record
The French call pinot noir "the noble grape" and have long considered it a source of inspiration. Now it can also be appreciated as the reason for an extensive, localized climate record.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 09, 2011 |
4.4 / 5 (5) |
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NASA's Jason-1 achieves a one-decade landmark
(PhysOrg.com) -- On Dec. 7, 2001, NASA and the French Space Agency Centre Nationale d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) launched the Jason-1 satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., embarking on a planned ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 08, 2011 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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Baby turtles don't just go with the flow
At just a few centimeters long, hatchling loggerhead turtles may seem powerless to resist being swept around the Atlantic Ocean by powerful currents.
Dec 02, 2011 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
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Environmental conditions and predators affect Atlantic salmon survival in the Gulf of Maine
Stocks of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), which have been steadily declining for the past few decades, are facing new challenges in the Gulf of Maine, where changing spring wind patterns, warming sea surface temperatures and ...
Nov 17, 2011 |
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Stalled weather systems more frequent in decades of warmer Atlantic
(PhysOrg.com) -- Slow-moving winter weather systems that can lead to massive snowfalls are more frequent during the decades when the North Atlantic Ocean is warmer than usual, a new NASA study finds. The study ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 07, 2011 |
5 / 5 (2) |
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Researchers discover Icelandic current, change North Atlantic climate picture
An international team of researchers, including physical oceanographers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), has confirmed the presence of a deep-reaching ocean circulation system off Iceland ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 21, 2011 |
4.9 / 5 (13) |
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What caused a giant arrow-shaped cloud on Saturn's moon Titan?
(PhysOrg.com) -- Why does Titan, Saturn's largest moon, have what looks like an enormous white arrow about the size of Texas on its surface?
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Aug 16, 2011 |
4.5 / 5 (20) |
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TRMM satellite sees 4 possibilities for the next Atlantic tropical storm
On Friday, August 12th, there were no named tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic Ocean. However, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) is now monitoring four areas in the Atlantic Ocean that have potential ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 13, 2011 |
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How ocean arteries carry life across the Indian Ocean
Research at the University of Melbourne and the Bureau of Meteorology has overturned conventional ideas of ocean circulation.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jun 30, 2011 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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New CryoSat-2 satellite redraws Arctic sea-ice map
Scientists have produced the most extensive map of Arctic sea-ice thickness yet using just two months' worth of data from the European Space Agency's ice mission, CryoSat-2.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jun 22, 2011 |
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Atmospheric carbon dioxide buildup unlikely to spark abrupt climate change
There have been instances in Earth history when average temperatures have changed rapidly, as much as 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) over a few decades, and some have speculated the same could happen again as ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jun 20, 2011 |
3.8 / 5 (13) |
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New research points to the significant role of oceans in ancient global cooling (w/ video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Thirty-eight million years ago, tropical jungles thrived in what are now the cornfields of the American Midwest and furry marsupials wandered temperate forests in what is now the frozen Antarctic. ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 26, 2011 |
4.8 / 5 (6) |
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West coast radar network is world's largest
A network of high-frequency radar systems designed for mapping ocean surface currents now provides detail of coastal ocean dynamics along the U.S. West Coast never before available.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 25, 2011 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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Ocean current
An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of ocean water generated by the forces acting upon the water, such as the Earth's rotation, wind, temperature, salinity differences and tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun. Depth contours, shoreline configurations and interaction with other currents influence a current's direction and strength.
Ocean currents can flow for thousands of kilometers, and together they create the great flow of the global conveyor belt which plays a dominant part in determining the climate of many of the Earth’s regions. Perhaps the most striking example is the Gulf Stream, which makes northwest Europe much more temperate than any other region at the same latitude. Another example is the Hawaiian Islands, where the climate is cooler (sub-tropical) than the tropical latitudes in which they are located, because of the effect of the California Current.
For more information about Ocean current, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
