Ocean Currents: Wind and Convection

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There are two causes of ocean currents: wind and convection. The more important of the two is convection. The act of convection in a fluid is the tendency of a heated part of the fluid to rise up due to the fact the it is less dense and it is replaced by cooler fluid which is then heated, rises up, and again replaced by cooler fluid. There has been plenty of recent research on the topic of ocean currents and convection, some of which might change the way we view the ocean. In this paper I will explain exactly what convection is, I will explain how and why it makes such a drastic effect in our ocean, and I will discuss the latest research that has been done on ocean currents.
So, what exactly is convection? Think of it like this: there is a tank of water with one side heated and the other side cooled. You put red food coloring on the heated side of the tank, then as the water on the left starts to heat up you begin to see the food coloring rise, and move to the right, towards the cold side. The heated water rises because the particles move faster and faster during heating. The faster the particles move, the more volume it takes up which decreases the water’s density, and the hot water now rises and is replaced by cold water, which is then heated and the particles move faster and rise and get replaced by cold water, etc. It is an on-going cycle. It is exactly the same in the ocean except the only difference is that it is a much large tank. In the ocean, the biggest source of heat is from the earth’s mantle, right below the earth’s crust. Under the ocean, the earth’s crust (oceanic crust) is only about 3-5 miles thick.3 The mantle can reach about 870oc (1600oF) which is enough heat to be the driving force of convection in ...

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