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.
New Antarctic research shows the deepest layer of the Southern Ocean is shrinking faster than scientists realized, with the rate of change accelerating over the past decade. This is of worldwide significance because as it ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 15, 2026
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A slowing Atlantic Ocean current is projected to intensify powerful storms in California while reducing snowfall over Greenland, according to a recent University of California, Riverside study. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning ...
Environment
Jul 8, 2026
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115
The state of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) has been a hot topic among climate scientists in recent years. The AMOC is crucial for climate regulation because it pulls warm surface water from the tropics ...
The Congo River is the second-largest river in the world, releasing an average of 40,000 cubic meters of water per second into the Atlantic Ocean. This huge discharge rate creates a large plume of fresh water that fans out ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 3, 2026
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The heat wave battering Europe may have an unlikely partner in crime: a patch of cold ocean water south of Iceland and Greenland that can influence weather patterns over the continent.
Environment
Jun 26, 2026
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48
New research indicates that sea turtles seem to navigate across hundreds of miles of open ocean using Earth's magnetic field. Previous experimental studies suggested that sea turtles use geomagnetism to navigate, but this ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 25, 2026
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Florida State University researchers have identified key differences in the root causes of long-term sea-surface temperature changes across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, a finding that could help guide future research ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 17, 2026
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40
Deep in the Atlantic, a vast circulation of water carries heat from the tropics toward Greenland. This is the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, or Amoc. It does this work largely out of sight, so it doesn't have ...
Environment
Jun 17, 2026
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15
It is becoming increasingly urgent to study the effects of climate change on the global ocean system. Future projections indicate significant changes in the Mediterranean and Atlantic circulation systems, which could have ...
Environment
Jun 16, 2026
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46
The warm Gulf Stream is maintained by coldness. The Barents Sea is a cooling machine. To predict how ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean may develop, one needs to know what drives them. The hunt for driving forces has led ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 15, 2026
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