The flow of ocean currents follows predictable patterns governed by a variety of physical factors. For surface currents, which include water flow horizontally in the upper four hundred meters of the ocean, wind is the primary driving force. For deep...
Some scientists are concerned that just as thermohaline circulation has changed significantly over time, it could change again and possibly cause abrupt climate change in both the United States and Europe.
Given the importance of ocean currents in the marine environment, oceanographers have tried for years to accurately measure them. Advances in current meters and acoustic technology have made the process easier, but the task of measuring currents rem...
Once an El Nino event is underway, scientists have a good idea of how it's likely to behave over the subsequent six to nine months. But predicting the onset of such events in advance has proven to be very difficult.
Among the largest structural features in the open ocean are the subtropical gyres that occur in the major ocean basins. But while gyres loom large in the overall scheme of ocean circulation, patterns of surface current motion can often be quite vari...
In addition to their role in El Nino and other weather events, ocean currents are also important for delivering nutrients, especially along coastlines, and for facilitating the movement of planktonic organisms. Surface currents are influenced by sev...
El Nino is marked by the appearance from time to time of warm water in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. The end result of the evaporative process that follows is excessive rainfall.
A tracer is a property or substance that can be used to track the movement of individual water masses. While the utility of specific tracers varies according to the locale and circumstance, tracers as a group provide a rich source of information ab...
While tracers have proven immensely valuable as tools with which to monitor and analyze ocean circulation, the sheer size of the world ocean presents an enormous data-gathering challenge. Many oceanographers believe the solution lies in profiling sy...
Water masses are layers of water distinguished by a particular temperature and salinity. Understanding how water masses form and move around is critical in understanding global climate.