Ocean circulation roadmap - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Ocean circulation roadmap A schematic roadmap of the ocean’s circulation: Each ocean basin contains large spinning gyres, driven by Earth’s rotation and winds The gyres are mostly self-contained, so that waters circulate within them rather than flowing between them
Tracking Ocean Plastic From Space - NASA Earthdata About 8 million tons of plastic flow from rivers and beaches into the ocean every year These plastics are carried by ocean currents and broken down by waves and the Sun into small microplastics Much of it floats at the calm center of circular ocean currents (called gyres) in large garbage patches
Ocean Circulation - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Ocean circulation refers to the flow of water throughout the world's oceans, which acts as a fundamental driver of Earth's climate This continuous movement redistributes heat, cycles essential nutrients for marine life, and affects the structure and health of ocean ecosystems At the ocean's surface, massive looping currents called gyres influence weather patterns and guide the movement of
Unseen Ocean – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution There’s an invisible soup below the ocean’s surface It’s not a particularly savory soup Rather, this salty mélange comprises active currents, eddies, vortices, upwelling and downwelling, all of which help transport vital nutrients across the sea But unlike goliath ocean gyres, these processes take place at relatively smaller scales (about 10 kilometers [6 miles] across), known by
Michael Spalls Projects For parameters typical of the interior of the mid-latitude subtropical gyres the eddy kinetic energy at equilibration is two orders of magnitude greater than the mean kinetic energy This work has been generously supported through grants from the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research
A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Ocean - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Some water does flow predictably between the gyres, but it’s a slow process The gyres are connected by the ocean’s interstate system, often called the “Global Ocean Conveyor Belt ” At a key crossroads in the North Atlantic, warm salty Gulf Stream surface waters move northward, where they cool rapidly in winter, becoming denser
Mid-ocean Ridges - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution What are mid-ocean ridges? Mid-ocean ridges form the longest mountain range in the world, nearly all of which lies beneath the sea These ridges crisscross the world’s oceans like stitches on a baseball; together they measure nearly 65,000 kilometers (about 40,000 miles) in length Most of Earth’s volcanic activity occurs along mid-ocean ridges, which form along the seams between tectonic