The Atlantic Ocean, the currents of which are known throughout the world, hides many secrets. It is rich in cold and warm water, which will be discussed below.
The most powerful current in the northern hemisphere is the Gulf Stream. At first, scientists thought that it originates in the Gulf of Mexico. From this came its name, which means "flow from the bay." It was later proved that only part of this stream leaves the Gulf of Mexico. The main course originates from the Sargasso Sea off the Atlantic coast of North America. Reaching the named ocean, the Gulf Stream deviates to the left, instead of shifting to the other side, according to the influence of the Earth's rotation.
Antilles
The Antilles along with Florida is a continuation of the Gulf Stream. It flows north from the famous Bahamas. All of them are warm currents. The Atlantic Ocean receives the Antilles water column as a result of the north equatorial flow and under the influence of the Coriolis forces. The maximum speed is 2 km / h. The temperature does not exceed 28 ° C in the summer and 25 ° C in the winter.
North and South Passat Current
The southern course moves from Africa to America. In the area of one of the capes crossed by him, it is divided into two branches. One of them moves towards the northwest, where it changes its name to the Guiana current, and the second (received the name Brazilian) moves to the southwest, affecting Cape Horn. In parallel with the second is the Falkland water stream.
The northern border of the Northern Passat current has provisional features, while in the south the division is more noticeable. The stream begins near Cape Zeleny, or rather, on its western side. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the current becomes calmer and colder, therefore it changes its name to Antilles.
These two moving streams of water are warm currents. The Atlantic Ocean is rich in such thicknesses in its water area. The rest will be considered further.
Gulfstream
The Gulf Stream is a very powerful and vast current that affects the climate of the American and European continent. The speed of water on its surface is 2.5 meters per second. Depth reaches 800 m, and the width is up to 120 kilometers. On the surface, the water temperature reaches 25–27 degrees Celsius, but in average depths it does not exceed 12 ° C. Every second, this flow moves 75 million tons of water, which is ten times more than the mass carried by all the rivers of the Earth.
Moving northeast, the Gulf Stream reaches the Barents Sea. Here its waters are cooled and go south, forming the Greenland Current. Then it again deviates to the west and merges with the Gulf Stream.
North Atlantic Current
The North Atlantic is the second largest in a body of water such as the Atlantic Ocean. The currents that depart from the Gulf Stream are striking in their characteristics, and this is no exception. It carries up to 40 million cubic meters of water in one second. Together with other Atlantic currents, the named has a significant impact on the weather of Europe. The Gulf Stream could not provide the continents with such a mild climate alone, because its warm waters pass at a sufficient distance from their shores.
Guinean Current
Atlantic Ocean - currents that constantly circulate in the water area. Guinean waters flow from the western to the eastern. A little later they turn south. As a rule, the average water temperature is not more than 28 ° C. The speed in most cases does not exceed 44 km / day, although there are days when this figure reaches 88 km / day.
Equatorial current
The Atlantic Ocean has a powerful counterflow. The currents that form it are famous for their warm waters and relatively calm character. Equatorial circulation is observed not only in the Atlantic, but also in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The first mention of it appeared in the XIX century. The main difference of the counterflow is that it moves in the opposite direction of the wind and other circulations in the middle of a certain water area.
Lomonosov Current
The Atlantic Ocean ( there are also cold currents ) is the second longest water area in the world. In 1959, the so-called Lomonosov circulation was discovered. It is named after the ship on which scientists first crossed the water data. The average depth is 150 meters. Since we are talking about a cold stream, you should clarify the information about the temperature regime - here most often 20 ° C. is observed.
Sea currents
The article lists some of the water circulations that the Atlantic Ocean is rich in. Sea currents can occur during the acting forces, which, firstly, create, and, secondly, change the speed and direction of flows. Their formation is strongly influenced by the relief, coastline and depth.