ocean current: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	oceanic circulation

Photos and Videos

World map showing major ocean current systems, with arrows indicating the direction and speed of warm and cold currents in the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Southern, and Arctic Oceans. Warm currents are marked in red and cold currents in blue, with currents labeled by name and symbols denoting those that reverse direction seasonally. A legend explains current speed categories and color codes.

Two diagrams compare coastal upwelling during normal conditions and an El Nino event. The top shows strong upwelling with nutrient-rich water and high plankton near the coast, while the bottom shows weak upwelling, a thicker nutrient-poor surface layer, and reduced plankton during El Nino.

major surface currents of the oceans

Thermohaline circulation

Visualization of Earth from space showing swirling blue and white patterns representing global ocean currents, with Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Ocean visible.

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Topics

East Wind Drift contour current countercurrent geostrophic current loop current surface current Sverdrup transport wind-driven circulation Ekman transport baroclinic field of mass Harbors and sea works iceberg coral reef wave oceanic ridge gulf deep-sea trench ocean acidification ocean warming tide

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Key People

V. Walfrid Ekman, 1928

V. Walfrid Ekman

Swedish scientist

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Walter Munk

American geophysicist and oceanographer

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Henry Melson Stommel

American meteorologist and oceanographer

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Georg Wüst

German oceanographer

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Richard H. Fleming

American oceanographer

Iceland, Glacier lagoon (Jokulsarlon)

Winter Weather Words Quiz

water glass on white background. (drink; clear; clean water; liquid)

Water and its Varying Forms