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Q: What direction of ocean surface currents in northern hemisphere?
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Continue Learning about Earth Science

What causes surface ocean currents to curve to the right in the northern hemisphere?

Coriolis effect


How do surface currents develop?

Deep ocean currents are caused by 3 things:change in temperaturechange in salinity by evaporationchange in salinity by freezingBecause colder water and saltier water are more dense, they sink, and the motion causes deep currents.


What causes water currents?

Surface ocean currents are mainly wind-driven and occur in all of the world's oceans. Examples of large surface currents that move across vast expanses of ocean are the Gulf Stream, the North Atlantic Current, the California Current, the Atlantic South Equatorial Current, and the Westwind Drift. Associated with surface currents are counter-surface and underlying currents. Surface ocean currents are deflected to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere due to the Coriolis effect. The Coriolis effect holds that because the Earth is spinning, surface waters move in a clockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and in a counterclockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere. The currents eventually come into contact with the continents which deflect them, creating giant oceanic current circles known as gyres. Vertical and ocean-bottom currents are mainly driven by density differences caused by changes in temperature and salinity. Originating in polar regions, cold, salty waters sink to the ocean bottom and move toward the opposite poles where they again surface. Vertical upwelling currents can also be caused by winds "blowing off" a coastline. The displaced waters are then replaced by underlying bottom waters. Currents are important to marine life as they help to move food and nutrients, making them available for photosynthesis, metabolic requirements and/or consumption.


How are convection currents and global winds related?

Global winds drag on the ocean's surface causing it to move and build up in the direction the wind is blowing.


How does surface air flow in a middle latitude cyclone in northern hemisphere?

Convergent Counterclockwise

Related questions

What direction do surface currents move?

The surface currents move in a clockwise direction in the Northern hemisphere, and move in a counter clockwise direction in the Southern hemisphere! Hope it helped:)


Describe the “clock” direction of surface currents in the Northern Hemisphere.?

The Coriolis effect shifts surface currents by angles of about 45 degrees. In the Northern Hemisphere, ocean currents are deflected to the right, in a clockwise motion. In the Southern Hemisphere, ocean currents are pushed to the left, in a counterclockwise motion.


Why do large land areas cause surface currents to change direction?

because the surface currents move in huge circles ,they move clockwise in the northern hemisphere


What direction do cold currents flow in the northern hemisphere?

warm surface currents come from the polar and temperate latitudes, and they tend to flow towards the equator. Like the warm surface currents, mainly atmospheric forces drive them. Gyres form when the major ocean currents connect. Water flows in a circular pattern-clockwise in the northern hemisphere, and clockwise in the Southern hemisphere.


Does surface currents move counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere?

yes


Which way does the surface currents in the northern hemisphere flow?

Clockwise


Do surface currents move clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere?

no to the right


What causes surface ocean currents to curve to the right in the northern hemisphere?

Coriolis effect


What direction do surface winds circulate in a high pressure system in the northern hemisphere?

They circulate clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, and counter clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.


Surface ocean currents curve to the right in the Northern Hemisphere because?

of the Coriolis effect, which is caused by the Earth's rotation. As water moves northward, the Coriolis effect deflects the currents to the right. This results in clockwise circulation patterns in the Northern Hemisphere.


How do surface currents develop?

Deep ocean currents are caused by 3 things:change in temperaturechange in salinity by evaporationchange in salinity by freezingBecause colder water and saltier water are more dense, they sink, and the motion causes deep currents.


Why do the surface currents move in different direction of the wind?

This is due to temperature and how water with different temperatures react.