Basin-wide ocean gyres have been observed to be slowly migrating toward the poles and, although natural variations contribute, climate simulations suggest the shift is in response to global warming.
currents
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Different El Niño, Different Paths of North Equatorial Current
Different types of El Niño have different impacts on the North Equatorial Current Bifurcation and can be extended to ocean circulations in the Pacific and the global climate system.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Larger Role for Shallow Intermediate Waters in Ocean Circulation
Water masses formed off southeastern Greenland may contribute more than previously thought to the variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, which strongly influences global climate.
Posted inNews
Climate Change Is Intensifying Arctic Ocean Currents
Melting ice means that strong Arctic winds create more energetic currents in the Beaufort Gyre.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Understanding Material Movement in the Ocean’s Upper Layer
Computer simulations are advancing our understanding of how natural and anthropogenic materials are transported around the upper layer of the ocean.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Different Eddy Transport for “Lazy” and “Athletic” Observers
Two specifications of fluid dynamics—taking measurements at a fixed point and following a fluid parcel—are compared for quantifying eddy transport in the ocean.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Submarine Rivers of Sediment
Turbidity currents move suspended sediment into the ocean. In general, the more sediment, the stronger the turbidity current, but one process may generate turbidity currents from very dilute rivers.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Are Microplastics Transported to Polar Regions?
New modeling indicates that global subsurface ocean currents distribute submerged microplastics along very different routes than those traveled by floating plastic debris.
Posted inNews
Volcanic Eruption Creates Temporary Islands of Pumice
Rafts of pumice, spewed from an undersea volcano, recently appeared in the South Pacific. These transient, movable islands are important toeholds for marine life like barnacles, coral, and macroalgae.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How the Ocean’s “Shadow Zone” Breathes
A new study uses Argo floats and an ocean circulation model to track the sources supplying pulses of oxygen to the deep North Pacific.