A garbage patch is a gyre of marine debris particles caused by the effects of ocean currents and increasing plastic pollution by human populations. These human-caused collections of plastic and other debris, cause ecosystem and environmental problems that affect marine life, contaminate oceans with toxic chemicals, and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

Tidal currents are in phase with the tide, hence are quasiperiodic; associated with the influence of the moon and sun pull on the ocean water. Tidal currents may form various complex patterns in certain places, most notably around headlands. Non-periodic or non-tidal currents are created by the action of winds and changes in density of water.

Apr 25, 2017 · Ocean currents are either on the surface of the ocean or in the deep waters below 300 meters. The currents can also move either horizontally or vertically depending on the cause. ... When this mixing takes place in higher latitude, a circulation pattern is created where warm water moves pole-wards from the tropics thus surrendering heat to the ...

Jan 22, 2022 · Ocean currents have a number of direct and indirect effects on nature. Formation of a desert: West coasts of the continents in tropical and subtropical latitudes (except close to the equator) are bordered by cool waters. ... An ocean gyre is a large system of circular ocean currents formed by global wind patterns and forces created by Earth’s ...

Ocean acidification is sometimes called “climate change’s equally evil twin,” and for good reason: it's a significant and harmful consequence of excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that we don't see or feel because its effects are happening underwater. At least one-quarter of the carbon dioxide (CO 2) released by burning coal, oil and gas doesn't stay in the air, but instead ...

Currents are movements of ocean water in a continuous flow, created largely by surface winds but also partly by temperature and salinity gradients, Earth’s rotation, and tides. Major current systems typically flow clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere, in circular patterns that often trace the ...

Aug 17, 2020 · Waves, tides, and currents constantly mix the ocean, moving heat from warmer to cooler latitudes and to deeper levels. Heat absorbed by the ocean is moved from one place to another, but it doesn’t disappear. The heat energy eventually re-enters the rest of the Earth system by melting ice shelves, evaporating water, or directly reheating the ...

Bioluminescent organisms live throughout the water column, from the surface to the seafloor, from near the coast to the open ocean. In the deep sea, bioluminescence is extremely common, and because the deep sea is so vast, bioluminescence may be the most common form of communication on the planet!

Thermohaline circulation (THC) is a part of the large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global density gradients created by surface heat and freshwater fluxes. The adjective thermohaline derives from thermo-referring to temperature and -haline referring to salt content, factors which together determine the density of sea water. Wind-driven surface currents (such …

ocean current, stream made up of horizontal and vertical components of the circulation system of ocean waters that is produced by gravity, wind friction, and water density variation in different parts of the ocean. Ocean currents are similar to winds in the atmosphere in that they transfer significant amounts of heat from Earth’s equatorial areas to the poles and thus play important …