The warmth of the warm currents and the coldness of the cold currents in the ocean are because they come from far away. Ocean currents come from far away, are blown by the wind, flow through the uneven seabed, and are driven by the rotation of the earth. The dusty ocean currents bring the warmth and coldness of other places.
Do you still remember the little yellow duck in 1992? A container full of little yellow ducks fell into the sea, and the waves swept 28,000 little yellow ducks into the North Pacific Ocean and sent them to all parts of the world along the ocean currents. Ocean currents are the result of a combination of factors, including wind, tides, changes in seawater density, and the Earth's rotation. ?The topography of the seabed and coastline also changes ocean currents, causing them to speed up, slow down or change direction. Ocean currents are divided into two categories, surface ocean currents and deep ocean currents.
1. Surface ocean currents
Surface ocean currents absorb more solar radiation and are warmer than deep ocean currents. ?Surface ocean currents control the movement of seawater on the surface 10%, and ?the remaining 90% is driven by deep ocean currents. Although the causes of the two ocean currents are different, they interact with each other in some complex way and drive the seawater flow at the same time. . Surface ocean currents along the shore are affected by wind and tides, causing water levels to rise and fall, causing seawater to move back and forth along the shore. ?The main driving force driving surface ocean currents on the surface is wind. ?The wind on the sea surface pulls the surface seawater forward. Meters of sea water will be affected by sea breeze.
Ocean currents form huge circulations on the earth's surface. The northern hemisphere flows clockwise and the southern hemisphere flows counterclockwise. This is because the rotation of the earth affects the wind direction, thus producing different circulations. ?If the Earth stopped spinning, ?air and water would simply move back and forth between the low-pressure equator and the high-pressure poles. ?But with the rotation of the earth, the ocean currents are deflected eastward when flowing from the equator to the North Pole, and the opposite is true in the southern hemisphere. ?This phenomenon of circular ocean currents is called the Cory Ole effect.
2. Deep ocean currents
Water transfers heat more efficiently than air. Therefore, ocean currents can also play a role in global heat redistribution. ?Unlike surface ocean currents,?the main factor in the movement of deep ocean currents is changes in the density of seawater. When seawater flows to the North Pole, the water temperature drops, and the oxygen and salt content in the low-temperature seawater will be higher. Because there is only water in the condensed iceberg, the salt in the sea continues to remain in the seawater. ?Cool, salty seawater is denser, so it sinks. The surface is warm surface seawater, and the bottom is cold deep seawater. The vertical water flow formed by the simultaneous action of temperature and density is called thermohaline circulation.
Ocean Conveyor Belt
Deep sea water driven by thermohaline circulation and surface water driven by sea winds work together to form a tortuous ocean current called the Ocean Conveyor Belt. ?As seawater flows from the deep to the surface,??the rising currents carry nutrients??that form the basis of many marine food chains and feed microorganisms. ?The Ocean Conveyor Belt is the longest ocean current in the world. It meanders through the entire Earth. However, it only moves a few centimeters per second. It takes thousands of years for a drop of water to complete the journey of the Ocean Conveyor Belt.
Ocean currents have a long journey. The warm current brings the warmth of the equator and the high temperature of the surface seawater; the cold current brings the coldness of the polar regions and the low temperature of the deep seawater.
It is precisely because of the flow of ocean currents that we feel the different temperatures in other places.