Ocean current

An ocean current is a sustained, directed movement of seawater driven by forces such as wind, tides, and differences in temperature or salinity.

Ekman transport: The net movement of surface water caused by wind stress and Earth’s rotation. Explains why wind-driven surface currents move at an angle to the wind.
Gulf Stream: A strong, warm Atlantic current flowing from the Gulf of Mexico toward the North Atlantic. Its path illustrates how a major current transports heat across an ocean basin.
Ocean heat transport: The movement of thermal energy through the ocean by currents and mixing. Currents carry heat from the tropics toward higher latitudes, influencing regional temperatures.
Ocean wave: A disturbance that transfers energy through water, usually with little net transport of the water itself. Waves move through the sea, whereas currents involve sustained transport of seawater.
Geostrophic current: A current in which the pressure-gradient force balances the Coriolis effect. Describes how rotating ocean flows can follow curved sea-surface slopes.
California Current: A cool eastern-boundary current flowing southward along western North America. Its coastal upwelling supports productive fisheries and influences regional climate.
El Niño–Southern Oscillation: A recurring climate pattern involving coupled changes in tropical Pacific sea-surface temperatures and atmospheric pressure. Its changing winds and water temperatures reorganize Pacific currents and affect distant climates.
Tsunami: A series of long ocean waves generated by sudden displacement of water. A tsunami is a propagating wave, not a persistent directed current.
Thermohaline circulation: Large-scale ocean circulation driven by seawater density differences associated with temperature and salinity. Connects density contrasts to deep currents that transport water between ocean basins.
Kuroshio Current: A warm western-boundary current flowing northward past Taiwan and Japan. Its concentrated poleward heat transport affects weather and marine life in the western North Pacific.

Linked from 25 pages