Ocean+Currents-+Surface-+Alexander+and+Kayla.

**Blue Class**
__Ocean Currents__- any continuous flow of water across a broad path in the ocean

-the current can be in any direction, but is usually horizontal

-Surface Currents are drawn by wind, Earth's rotation, and the Coriolis Effect -The north to south movement of water is called the Coriolis Effect -two sets of winds are involved in forming ocean currents: trade winds and westerly winds -trade winds affect the part of each current circle that occurs near the equator -westerly winds drive the polar portion of the current circles -the temperature is different from the poles to the equator -Westerlies blow from: -water sloshes east after hitting the continent -very cold -very salty -today has unknown amounts of fresh water __**Section 5: The Gulf Stream**__ -is the most powerful warm water current on the planet -is warm and salty
 * __Section 1: How do you track currents?__** [[image:deep_ocean.jpg width="504" height="556" align="right"]]
 * flow
 * temperature
 * salinity
 * sea life
 * suspended solids (minerals)
 * __Section 2: Ocean Currents- the basics__**
 * the southwest in the Northern Hemisphere
 * the northwest in the Southern Hemisphere
 * __Section 3: Equatorial Counter Current__**
 * __Section 4: Labrador Current__**

__**(All this information is found in our class notes titled Ocean Currents)**__

 * This is a map of the world's surface ocean currents**