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Currents

  • Living reference work entry
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Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences

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Synonyms

Not to be confused with electrical current; Ocean currents; Water flow

Definition

Currents are large-scale (mainly horizontal) translational motions of seawater, as opposed to the wave motions where water particles perform periodic back-and-forth excursions relative to the state of rest. Ocean currents can flow at great distances; they carry seawater and its inherent properties (heat and salt content, dissolved and particulate matter, etc.) from one region to another.

Ocean currents are expressed in terms of horizontal velocity (m/s) of fluid motion as a function of space and time, given either by the velocity vector components or by the direction and speed of the current. This is the Eulerian description of currents. Current velocity components are often presented as (eastward) zonal current and (northward) meridional current. When using the current presentation by flow direction, zero direction has been agreed for the current flowing to the north; the direction angle is...

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Bibliography

  • Bryden, H. L., Robinson, C., and Griffiths, G., 2012. Changing currents: a strategy for understanding and predicting the changing ocean circulation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 370, 5461–5479.

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  • Dohan, K., and Maximenko, N., 2010. Monitoring ocean currents with satellite sensors. Oceanography, 23(4), 94–103.

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  • Talley, L. D., Pickard, G. L., Emery, W. J., and Swift, J. H., 2011. Descriptive Physical Oceanography: An Introduction. Amsterdam/Boston: Elsevier - Academic Press.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Systems Institute, Tallinn University of Technology, Akadeemia 15a, 12618, Tallinn, Estonia

    Jüri Elken

Authors
  1. Jüri Elken
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Correspondence to Jüri Elken .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland

    Jan Harff

  2. Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

    Martin Meschede

  3. Leibiniz Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Sven Petersen

  4. Academy of Sciences, Humanities, and Lit c/o Helmholtz-Center for Ocean Research, Kiel, Germany

    Jörn Thiede

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Elken, J. (2014). Currents. In: Harff, J., Meschede, M., Petersen, S., Thiede, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6644-0_158-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6644-0_158-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6644-0

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