Currents Ocean

Currents Ocean

You may be surprised to learn that rivers can exist in the ocean as weel as on dry land. Yet it is so. The seas contain vast bodies of water constantly in motion, always moving in certain well-defined directions. Oceanographers call them "currents."

No one known for certain just what causes these currents. Many explanations have been offered. The pull of the moon has been suggested, as has also the difference in temperature and weight of the water at the North and South Poles and at the equator. Old time sailors believed that the winds cause the currents. Most oceanographers today believe that currents are not caused by any one particular force, but are the result of many forces, all acting together. The various factors are the sun, the winds, the amount of water evaporated from the ocean, the amount of salt in the water, the melting of polar ice, and the contour of the bottom of the sea.