What forces cause the ocean to move? Gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun Wind (friction between air and water) Coriolis Effect (spin of Earth) Differences in Water Temperatures (density differences) Differences in Water Salinity (density differences) Edited

Gravitational pull of the moon & Sun causes the TIDES?

Horizontal Surface Currents (gyres) caused by Wind and Coriolis Effect

What is the Coriolis Effect? If Earth remained still the atmosphere would only circulate Between Earth’s poles and Earth’s equator in a simple back and forth pattern. Because Earth spins, the circulating air is deflected resulting in curved paths of air, called the Coriolis Effect. This deflection of the atmosphere sets up the complex global wind patterns which drive surface ocean currents. Global winds drag on the water’s surface, causing ocean water to move and build up in the direction that the wind is blowing.

Gyres Impact our Climate by Moderating the Earth's temperatures by transferring heat by convection and conduction As surface currents move the water, the water absorbs heat in the tropical regions and releases this heat in colder environments near the poles.

Another effect of gyres…

Vertical/Deep Water Currents are… Responsible for circulating 90% of Earth's ocean water Don’t forget how deep the ocean is!!!!!!!!!!!! An influence not only weather patterns but the overall health of the oceans Set in motion by variations in water density, which is directly related to temperature and salinity

Differences in salinity Why is the water at tropical latitudes saltier?

Why is the water at the poles extremely dense? Differences in salinity

Sea water entering polar regions cools or freezes becoming saltier and denser as fresh water is frozen into sea ice This colder and saltier water tends to sink A global "conveyor belt" is set in motion when deep cold salty water forms in the North Atlantic, sinks, moves south, and circulates around Antarctica, and then moves northward to the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic basins It can take a thousand years for water from the North Atlantic to find its way into the North Pacific. Warm surface currents invariably flow from the tropics to the higher latitudes, driven mainly by atmospheric winds, as well as the earth's rotation. Putting it all together results in The Great Conveyor Belt

The Great Conveyor Belt Result of wind, Coriolis effect, temperature and salinity differences