Image

A Road Map for the Ocean

September 19, 2018

Sam Levang, a graduate student in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program, investigates the pathways of ocean water circulating throughout the globe. The oceans circulate heat and have a significant role in regulating Earth’s climate. This schematic “road map” of the ocean’s circulation shows that each ocean basin contains large spinning gyres, driven by Earth’s rotation and winds. Waters circulate within the gyres, rather than flowing between them. Small swirling eddies, found everywhere in the ocean, provide some stirring between the gyres. A global circulation known as the “Ocean Conveyor” also connects the gyres, propelling warm surface waters and deep cold waters around the world. (Illustration by Natalie Renier, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Creative Studio)