what are ocean currents differentiate between the two types of ocean currents
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Answer:
Two Types of Ocean Currents
There are two type of Ocean Currents:
Surface Currents--Surface Circulation.
Deep Water Currents--Thermohaline Circulation.
Primary Forces--start the water moving.
The primary forces are:
Secondary Forces--influence where the currents flow.
Solar heating cause water to expand.
Ocean currents are patterns of water movement and patterns that influence climate zones and weather patterns around the world. They’re primarily driven by winds and by seawater density, although many other factors – including the shape and configuration of the ocean basin they flow through – influence them. The two basic types of currents – surface and deep-water currents – help define the character and flow of ocean waters across the planet.
TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)
Two major kinds of currents define the planet's oceans: surface currents driven by wind and deep-water currents driven by variations in seawater density.
Surface Currents
Snorkelling
Surface currents refer to movement of the top layer of ocean water – the upper 330 feet or so – primarily driven by wind. The large-scale circulation of these surface currents roughly mirrors the large-scale circulation of air, which most simply derives from unequal heating of the planet’s surface by the sun. Currents form rotating systems in the middle of major ocean systems called gyres. Like the winds controlling them, these surface currents help redistribute heat at a planetary scale: Generally speaking warm water flows toward the poles and cold water flows toward the equator.
Deep-water Currents
SCUBA diver
Deep-water currents describe water movement patterns far below the ocean’s surface and the influence of the wind. Instead of airflow, these currents primarily arise from variations in the density of seawater, controlled by its temperature and salt content (salinity). Their movement forms thermohaline circulation (“thermo” meaning temperature, “haline” meaning salinity) which crosses ocean basins and links to surface currents in what’s called the “global conveyor belt.”
In very simplified form, water moving into the polar regions gets cold enough to freeze into ice, leaving its share of salt behind; this makes the underlying water saltier, which in turn makes it denser. This cold, dense, saltier water sinks to the seafloor, replaced by surface waters that repeat the process. The deep current moves toward the equator and warms up, becoming less dense and rising to the surface in “upwellings.”
Measuring Currents
Power of the oceans
Both types of ocean currents are measured using units called Sverdrup (Sv). Sverdrup measures current flow rates, where 1 Sv is equal to 10 to the 6th power cubic meters per second, or about 265 million gallons per second. While ocean currents themselves can have flow rates of hundreds or thousands of Sv per second, the total Sv flow for all the freshwater sources in the world is only equal to about 1 Sv: a demonstration of the massive scale of ocean currents compared to the flow of rivers.
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