Differential heating & cooling drives the motion of the atmosphere

Interactions give rise to ocean circulation patterns

Circulation transfers heat from tropics to polar regions
2/3 due to atmos circulation, 1/3 due to ocean circulation
Ocean currents:
• Masses of water
that flow from one
place to another
(water masses in
motion)
• They can strongly
affect climate of
coastal regions
and beyond
 • Surface currents develop
from friction between the
ocean and winds that blow
Sub-tropical across its surface
gyres
• If there were no continents,
ocean currents would follow
major wind belts
• In reality, ocean currents are
constrained by continents
• Trade winds and prevailing
westerlies create large
circular moving loops of
water, bound by the shape
of continents
• Each subtropical gyre composed of 4 main currents that flow into one another
• Equatorial current: travel west along equator
• Western boundary current: equatorial currents must turn since they cannot cross land.
Coriolis effect deflects currents away from the equator
• Northern/Southern boundary currents: prevailing westerlies blow from NW in SH and
from SW in NH, direct currents in easterly direction
• Eastern boundary current: coriolis effect and continental barrier turn them back
towards the equator
• The Northern/Southern boundary currents that flow east as a result of the
prevailing westerlies eventually move into the subpolar latitudes.
• Driven in a westerly direction by the polar easterlies, producing subpolar
gyres
— Ekman transport
— Ekman spiral
— Geostrophic Currents
— Western Intensification of Subtropical Gyres
 Coriolis effects on ocean surface currents
Ekman spiral & transport
• Voyage of the Fram, Norwegian explorer noticed that arctic ice moved 20-40ᵒ to
the right of the wind blowing across it.
• Why does surface water move in a direction that is different to the wind??
• Ekman, Swedish physicist, developed circulation model called Ekman Spiral.
• Balance between frictional effects in the ocean and coriolis effect.
 Ekman Spiral & Transport
Wind blows across surface, some energy
is transferred to water. Water begins to Surface water moves as a thin layer on
move but Coriolis effect causes this water top of the deeper layers. As surface layer
to deflect to 45ᵒ right in NH moves, the layers beneath it are set in
motion, passing wind energy down
through water column
Size of the arrow indicates the
energy involved and direction of
flow: current speed decreases with
increasing depth. Each successive
layer is set in motion at a
progressively slower velocity in a
direction progressively more to the
right of the layer above it

Ekman transport: All layers

combine to create a net
water movement of 90ᵒ
 Geostrophic balance and western
intensification of boundary currents
Accumulation of water in
the centre of gyres leads
to geostrophic flow

Western intensification
due to coriolis effects
(mainly)
Western boundary currents
(fast, narrow, deep)
~100km wide, ~2km
deep,
~100km/day
Eastern boundary currents
~1000km wide, 0.5km
deep, ~10km/day
August

Temperatures
migrate N & S with
February seasons
Upwelling: vertical movement of cold deep nutrient-rich water to the
surface
Downwelling: vertical movement of surface oxygen-rich water to deeper
parts of the ocean

Upwelling regions are

highly productive zones.
Downwelling, lower
productivity, but carries
necessary O2 to
organisms in the deep
sea

Upwelling and downwelling are important mixing mechanisms

between surface and deep waters and are accomplished by a variety of
methods
 Equatorial upwelling due to surface divergence

SE trade winds blow across

geographical equator. Ekman transport
causes water to veer right in NH and left
in SH: divergence of surface water
Downwelling due to surface convergence
Coastal upwelling and downwelling associated with
boundary currents
Due to Ekman transport/coriolis deflection
Figure: Satellite image showing oceanic phytoplankton pigment concentrations. Red/orange/yellow
colours indicate high amounts of phytoplankton and productivity, green intermediate and blue indicates
lower concentrations (Pearson, Prentic Hall Inc, 2005)

Note coastal upwelling on west coast of South Africa and Agulhus

retroflection
Other causes of localised upwelling
— The pattern of surface currents varies from ocean to
ocean

— Dependant on
— geometry of ocean basin
— pattern major wind belts
— seasonal factors
— other periodic changes
Antarctic ocean surface circulation
Antarctic Circumpolar Current
(West Wind Drift)
- From west to east
- Driven by prevailing westerlies
- Completely circumscribes the Earth
- Constricted in Drake passage
- Slow current
- Transport the most water
- 130million m^3/s

East Wind Drift

- From east to west
- Driven by polar easterlies
Atlantic ocean surface circulation
North-Atlantic Subtropical Gyre:
The four boundary currents are some of the
strongest in the world
North Equatorial Current (NE)
Antilles (A)
Caribbean Currents (CC)
Florida Current (F)
Gulf Stream (GS) (North Atlantic Current )
Canary Current (C)

Other:
Labrador Current (L)
Irminger Current (I)
Norwegian Current (N)

South-Atlantic Subtropical Gyre:

• South Equatorial Current (SE)
• Brazil Current (Br): western boundary current;
smaller than Gulf Stream due to split of SE
current; merges with West Wind Drift (WW)
• Benguela Current (Bg): slow moving, cold
current Eastern boundary current

Other:
Falkland (Malvinas) Current (Fa)
Atlantic ocean surface circulation Gulf Stream
Western boundary current
– strongly western
intensified
• 50 – 70 km wide
• Depths = 1.5 km
• Speeds 3 – 10km/hr
Fastest current in the
world

Sargasso Sea
• Stagnant eddy in
middle of gyre
• Strong boundary
currents “separate” it
from rest of Atlantic
• Named after floating
alga, Sargassum,
that gets trapped
there
• “North Atlantic
garbage patch”

1Sverdrup = 106m3/s
 Indian ocean surface circulation
Winter (NE Monsoon) Summer (SW Monsoon)

How are surface currents in

the northern Indian Ocean
influenced by the seasonal
monsoon?
Pacific ocean surface circulation
North-Pacific Subtropical Gyre:
North Equatorial Current (NE)
Kuroshio Currents (K)
North Pacific Current (NP)
California Current (C)
Other: Alaskan Current (A); Oyashio (O)

South-Pacific Subtropical Gyre:

South Equatorial Current (SE)
East Australian Current (EA)
West Wind Drift (WW)
Peru Current (P)
 Pacific ocean surface circulation

Fisheries and the Peru current

• The cool waters of Peru current have historically been one
of the Earth’s richest fishing grounds
• What conditions cause such an abundance on fish??
• Along W coast of South America, coastal winds create
Ekman transport that deflect water away from shore,
causing upwelling of cool nutrient rich water
 Pacific ocean surface circulation
• High pressure region dominates the coastal region of South America – clear, fair & dry
weather
• On other side of Pacific, L pressure region– cloudy conditions with precipitation
• Pressure difference creates strong southeast trade winds: Walker Circulation Cell
• SE trade winds move ocean water towards west. Water warms as it flows in equatorial
regions creating a wedge of warm water on western side of ocean: Pacific warm pool
Thermocline deeper on western side
• Upwelling off the coast of Peru, productive Peruvian anchovy fisheries supporting
economy and abundance of marine life

“NORMAL”
 El Niño – Southern Oscillation
ENSO

Every so often, a current of warm water reduces the population of anchovies in

coastal waters of Peru
• Decline in fishing industry & marine life (sea birds, sea lions, seals…)
• Usually occurred around Christmas - El Niño (the child/the boy)
• Walker recognised that east-west atmospheric pressure seesaw
accompanied the warm current
• Southern Oscillation
• Combined atmospheric and oceanic effects - El Niño – Southern Oscillation
• Alternates between warm and cool phases
 El Niño – warm phase
Walker Cell Circulation disrupted
• High pressure in eastern Pacific weakens, weaker SE trade winds
• Under strong conditions, trade winds reverse
• Warm pool migrates eastward
• Thermocline deeper in eastern Pacific
• Downwelling
• Lower biological productivity
– Peruvian fishing suffers

EL NINO
WARMING
PHASE
 La Niñ a - cool phase
• Intensification of “normal” conditions - Increased pressure difference
across equatorial Pacific
• Stronger trade winds
• Stronger upwelling in eastern Pacific
• Shallower thermocline
• Cooler than normal seawater
• Higher biological productivity

LA NINA
COOLING
PHASE
 (multivariate)
Calculated using a weighted average of oceanic and atmospheric factors
+’ve = El Nino
-’ve = La Nina
Near zero = normal conditions

El Nino conditions occur every 2 – 10 yrs, highly irregular pattern

Typically last 12 – 18 months and are followed by la nina conditions
EFFECTS OF SEVERE EL NINO
e.g. droughts in SA
 Deep currents occur in the deep zone below pycnocline
Driven by density differences due to temperature (mainly) and salinity
Effects about 90% of all ocean water, but much slower than surface currents
Typically 10 – 20 km/yr compared to ~10km/hr for western intensified surface currents
• Sources of bottom water
• Antarctic Bottom Water, North Atlantic
Deep Water, Arctic/Antarctic
Convergence (Antarctic Intermediate
water)
• Density layering
• Vertical exchange at high
latitudes (no pycnocline)
“Conveyor belt” circulation model links surface and deep water circulation
mechanisms of vertical mixing still unclear
 SUMMARY
Wind-driven surface currents modified by basin structure & Coriolis effects
Five major subtropical gyres (cw in Northern hemisphere/ccw in Southern)
Ekman transport, and geostrophic balance effect circulation
Western intensification of boundary currents
Upwelling and downwelling in divergent and convergent surface flows
Pacific ocean has largest gyres and well developed equatorial countercurrent
ENSO events regularly disrupt Pacific surface flows
Deep currents driven by density differences (thermohaline)
Sources of deep water in North Atlantic and Antarctic
“Conveyor belt” circulation links surface and deep ocean circulations
 Exercise:
On a base map of the world, plot and label the
major currents involved in the surface
circulation gyres of the oceans.
Use colors to represent warm versus cool currents
and indicate which currents are western
intensified.
Superimpose the major wind belts of the world on
the gyres and describe the relationship
between wind belts and currents.