Ocean currents are large-scale, persistent movements of seawater driven primarily by wind stress, density gradients (thermohaline circulation), Earth’s rotation, and basin geometry. They form interconnected surface and deep circulatory systems that redistribute heat, salt, nutrients, and dissolved gases across ocean basins. Major surface currents, organized into gyres, are largely wind-driven and Coriolis-deflected, while deep currents follow density-controlled pathways linked to water mass formation at high latitudes. Ocean currents modulate regional and global climate, influence marine biogeochemical cycles, and are central to coupled ocean–atmosphere dynamics represented in numerical circulation and climate models.
A study by researchers at The University of Manchester, carried out alongside the Universities of Melbourne and Copenhagen, could hold the key to understanding the causes of long-term health problems, such as infertility ...
Soft Matter
1 hour ago
0
0
Increasingly, the world's oceans are telling us our climate system may be changing faster and more dramatically than expected.
Environment
May 25, 2026
0
12
The offspring of a common coral branching species set up a new home up to 100 kilometers or more from their parents in one of the longest dispersal distances ever measured, according to new international research.
Plants & Animals
May 20, 2026
0
10
For generations, the mild and temperate climate of northwestern Europe has been credited to one legendary force: the Gulf Stream. This idea is so deeply entrenched in our cultural identity that in James Joyce's Ulysses, the ...
Earth Sciences
May 5, 2026
0
15
Most of the microlitter present in the South Atlantic Ocean originates from the West African coast and is particularly concentrated in areas near the equator and off the coast of Brazil, according to a study appearing in ...
Environment
Apr 29, 2026
0
6
A Florida International University student has exposed a hidden driver of coastal flooding, and it could help improve warning systems for entire communities. Earth and Environment Ph.D. student Dafrosa Kataraihya's latest ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 27, 2026
0
11
Lord Howe Island lies in the middle of the ocean, about 700 kilometers northeast of Sydney. It's covered in lush forest and fringed by the world's most southerly coral reef ecosystem.
Plants & Animals
Apr 22, 2026
0
11
A paper published in the journal Science Advances is adding to the growing body of research showing that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is weakening. In this new study, instead of relying mainly on ...
Massive blooms of Sargassum seaweed that have inundated coastlines across the Atlantic since 2011 likely originate off the coast of West Africa—forming years before they are visible and overturning long-standing assumptions ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 16, 2026
0
74
New research reveals a powerful yet overlooked driver of climate change: intensifying ocean eddies. These swirling currents—that break off from major currents—are redistributing heat and nutrients in the ocean and amplifying ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 15, 2026
0
18
