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Earth and Space Sciences · Glossary

What is Ocean current and gyre?

Also known as: ocean current · gyre

Definition 26.5 Primary & Middle School Earth and Space Sciences · Chapter 26 — The Oceans

An ocean current is a steady movement of sea water in one direction, like a river in the ocean. A gyre is a very large loop of ocean currents that turns round an ocean basin.

The five great gyres, simplified: clockwise in the northern hemisphere, anticlockwise in the southern. Red: warm currents, coming from the tropics; blue: cold currents, coming from higher latitudes. The North Atlantic gyre is edged by the Gulf Stream on the west and the Canary Current on the east.
The five great gyres, simplified: clockwise in the northern hemisphere, anticlockwise in the southern. Red: warm currents, coming from the tropics; blue: cold currents, coming from higher latitudes. The North Atlantic gyre is edged by the Gulf Stream on the west and the Canary Current on the east.
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