Predicting Ocean Surface Currents
Today in class we had to predict ocean currents on a map. We used narrow blue arrows for cold, fast and deep currents and thick blue arrows for cold, slow and shallow currents. We also used narrow red arrows for warm, fast and deep currents. Red, thick arrows represented slow and shallow currents. After we drew in ocean currents in the North Pacific, South Pacific, North Atlantic and South Atlantic, we had to draw in two more arrows in each place of our predictions. Our predictions were what kind of current it would be and which way it moved. After that we had to draw in all four arrows in the South Indian ocean on our own. This was based on the patterns that we saw in the other ocean currents.
The patterns in the ocean current always flow towards the pole. The warm currents tend to be the ones that flow towards the poles, and the colder currents flow towards the equator. That is places like iceland is always warm because the warm currents are going toward the poles and the Iceland is very close to the north pole, and the warm ocean currents are going right by them.
In the northern hemisphere, the current moves clockwise. In the southern hemisphere, the current moves counter-clockwise. The faster currents are directed down towards Antarctica mostly. The currents start moving north and south because the cold air molecules move towards the equator to get warm and the cold air molecules move up to get cooler. Red arrows are nearer to the equator because the equator gets direct sunlight. Blue arrows aren’t because they are cooler and don’t get the direct sunlight.
