Geography - World & Indian (Ocean currents):

 

An ocean current is any more or less permanent or continuous, directed movement of ocean water that flows in one of the Earths oceans. The currents are generated from the forces acting upon the water like the earths rotation, the wind, the temperature and salinity differences and the gravitation of the moon.

Ocean currents can flow for thousands of kilometers. They are very important in determining the climates of the continents,especially those regions bordering on the ocean.

 

Direction
Surface ocean currents are generally wind driven and develop their typical clockwise spirals in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise rotation in the southern hemisphere because of the imposed wind stresses. In wind driven currents, the Ekman spiral effect results in the currents flowing at an angle to the driving winds. The areas of surface ocean currents move somewhat with the seasons; this is most notable in equatorial currents.

Deep ocean currents are driven by density and temperature gradients. Thermohaline circulation, also known as the oceans conveyor belt, refers to the deep ocean density-driven ocean basin currents.

Ocean currents are measured in Sverdrup with the symbol Sv, where 1 Sv is equivalent to a volume flow rate of 106 cubic meters per second.

 

Warm ocean currents are corridors of warm water moving from the tropics poleward  where they release energy to the air. Cold ocean currents are corridors of cold water moving from higher latitudes toward the equator. They absorb energy received in the tropics thus cooling the air above

Major Ocean currents

Current	Ocean	Type
Agulhas Current	Indian	Warm
Alaska Current	North Pacific	Warm
Benguela Current	South Atlantic	Cool
Brazil Current	South Atlantic	Warm
California Current	North Pacific	Cool
Canaries Current	North Atlantic	Cool
East Australian Current	South Pacific	Warm
Equitorial Current	Pacific	Warm
Gulf Stream	North Altantic	Warm
Humboldt (Peru) Current	South Pacific	Cool
Kuroshio (Japan) Current	North Pacific	Warm
Labrador Current	North Atlantic	Cool
North Atlantic Drift	North Atlantic	Warm
North Pacific Drift	North Pacific	Warm
Oyashio (Kamchatka) Current	North Pacific	Cool
West Australian Current	Indian	Cool
West Wind Drift	South Pacific	Cool

 

El Niño and La Niña
Peruvian fisherman in the late 1800s named the seasonal swing of ocean water "El Niño" (Spanish for the "Christ Child") as it usually occurred around Christmas. A periodic weakening of the trade winds in the central and western Pacific allows warm water to invade the eastern Pacific. Along the Peruvian coast, the encroaching warm water displaces the nutrient-rich north-flowing cold ocean current causing a decline in fisheries. Today, the phenomenon is known as the " El Niño/Southern Oscillation" and we are coming to understand how this change in the seasonal wind and ocean circulation impacts global weather patterns (See December - February conditions; June - August conditions). Cooler than normal ocean temperature in this region is called "La Niña". It too has significant impacts on worldwide weather.

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with warm regards

Harish Sati
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)
Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068

(M) + 91 - 9990646343 | (E-mail) Harish.sati@gmail.com


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