1. Grunt Productions 2004 Ocean Circulation A Brief By Lance Grindley

2. Grunt Productions 2004 3. Grunt Productions 2004 4. Grunt Productions 2004 Currents flow in complex patterns affected by wind, the water's salinity and heat content, bottom topography, and the earth's rotation. Ocean waters are constantly on the move. How they move influences climate and living conditions for plants and animals, even on land. 5. Grunt Productions 2004 6. Grunt Productions 2004 Types of Ocean Currents Surface currents Anti-cyclonic current gyres are driven by the westward flow of equatorial surface wind. Gravity driven roll-back from the resulting rise of western sea surface runs equatorial counter current. Circum-Antarctic circulation, or West Wind Drift is driven by Earths rotation. Deep-water current This is thermohaline circulation or the Global Conveyor Belt. 7. Grunt Productions 2004 8. Grunt Productions 2004 The North Atlantic Gyre System 9. Grunt Productions 2004 The factors that govern the oceanic gyres Gulf stream N. Equatorial Current Canary Current 10. Grunt Productions 2004 Atlantic Ocean meridional section at 25W (a) Potential Temperatures (C) http://sam.ucsd.edu/sio210/lect_6/ 11. Grunt Productions 2004 Atlantic Ocean meridional section at 25W (b) Salinity () 12. Grunt Productions 2004 Atlantic Ocean meridional section at 25W (c) Density at 0 dbar (0F) 13. Grunt Productions 2004 Atlantic Ocean meridional section at 25W (d) Density at 4 dbar (4F) 14. Grunt Productions 2004 Atlantic Ocean meridional section at 25W (e) Dissolved Oxygen (DO2 in ml/l) 15. Grunt Productions 2004 South Atlantic meridional section at 25W (e) Silicate content (umol/Kg) 16. Grunt Productions 2004 SurfacecurrentsinthePaficific 17. Grunt Productions 2004 1. shoe spill, May 27, 1990 2. 250 recovered, March 26, 1991 3. 200 recovered, May 18, 1991 4. 100 recovered, January-February 1991 5. 200 recovered, November-December 1990 6. 200 recovered, February-March 1991 7. 150 recovered, April 4, 1991 8. 200 recovered, May 9-10, 1991 9. several recovered, January-March 1993 Nike shoes and the Pacific gyre The North Pacific gyre has been dropping off shoes around the Pacific since 1990. The shoes washed ashore one at a time but were wearable after a scrub-down to remove barnacles, algae, and tar. Beachcombers held swap meets to find matched pairs 18. Grunt Productions 2004 Pacific ocean meridional section at 150W (a) Potential Temperatures (C) 19. Grunt Productions 2004 Pacific Ocean meridional section at 150W (b) Salinity () 20. Grunt Productions 2004 Pacific Ocean meridional section at 150W (c) Density at 0 dbar (0F) 21. Grunt Productions 2004 Pacific Ocean meridional section at 150W (c) Density at 4 dbar (4F) 22. Grunt Productions 2004 Surface currents in the Indian Ocean 23. Grunt Productions 2004 Circum-AntarcticCirculation 24. Grunt Productions 2004 Pacific at normal times 25. Grunt Productions 2004 DuringtheElNioTimes 26. Grunt Productions 2004 Equatorial surface wind High air pressure West East Cold deep waters Equatorial countercurrent The normal or La Nia conditions Warm surface waters Low air pressure 27. Grunt Productions 2004 http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/sst_ani.htm Animation of Monthly-averaged Sea Surface Temperatures 28. Grunt Productions 2004 El Nio Continues to Grow: Pacific Ocean Shows Higher Than Normal Sea Surface Heights December 02, 2002 The latest image from NASA's Jason oceanography satellite, taken during a 10-day collection cycle ending December 2, 2002, shows the Pacific dominated by two significant areas of higher- than-normal sea level (warmer ocean temperatures). In the central equatorial Pacific, the large area of higher than normal sea surface heights (warmer than normal sea surface temperatures) associated with growing El Nio conditions has recently migrated eastward toward the coast of South America. Meanwhile, the influence of the 20- to 30-year larger than El Nio/La Nia pattern called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation continues to create warm, higher-than-normal sea-surface heights in the north Pacific that are connected in a warm horseshoe pattern with the western and southern Pacific. http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov/elnino/20021202.html 29. Grunt Productions 2004 Geostrophic Currents Upwelling and downwelling 30. Grunt Productions 2004 The Ekman Spiral 31. Grunt Productions 2004 The Ekman Spiral 32. Grunt Productions 2004 Mapping the Gulf Stream 33. Grunt Productions 2004 The Gulf Stream wobbles, much like the streams on land, so creating rings and eddies. 34. Grunt Productions 2004 The Oceanic Conveyor Belt 35. Grunt Productions 2004