Browse ocean currents Resources

Browse ocean currents Resources

The Thermohaline Circulation - The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt
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The oceans are mostly composed of warm salty water near the surface over cold, less salty water in the ocean depths. These two regions don't mix except in certain special areas, which creates a large slow current called the thermohaline circulation.
Aquarius Ocean Circulation
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Ocean circulation plays a key role in distributing solar energy and maintaining climate, by moving heat from Earth's equator to the poles. Aquarius salinity data, combined with data from other sensors, will give us a clearer picture of how the ocean works
Multiple Earth's showing different heat visualizations
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Explore the solar heating of the ocean in part one of a series on the water cycle. The animations show multiple views of the solar heating of the oceans, a picture of this first stage of water's cyclical journey from sea to air to land, and back again.
Chart showing sea ice decline
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The cryosphere consists of those parts of the Earth's surface where water is found in solid form, including areas of snow, sea ice, glaciers, permafrost, ice sheets, and icebergs. This animation shows fluctuations in the cryosphere.